Urijah Faber discusses the rib injury that ruled him out of UFC 177

With a recent win over Alex Caceres at UFC 175, Urijah Faber appeared to set up a potential quick return to pay-per-view at UFC 177.

The Aug. 30 event takes place at Sleep Train Arena in Faber’s hometown of Sacramento, where “The California Kid” headlined some of the biggest cards in WEC history.

However, as the former WEC champion and top UFC contender recently told MMAjunkie Radio, a rib injury suffered in his July 5 victory over Caceres scratched the possibility of a UFC 177 slot. Instead, he’ll hit the sidelines and recover while shooting for a return later in the year.

Faber, who ultimately tapped out rising contender Caceres in a featured FOX Sports 1-televised preliminary-card bout, said the injury occurred in the first minute of the fight. Faber, who’s currently ranked No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, ended up fighting 10 more minutes before ending the bout via rear-naked choke.

“It was just a little knee,” Faber told MMAjunkie Radio soon after the event. “It hit me kind of in the side left, where there’s not much muscle. I don’t think it takes much pressure to break a rib.”

Faber, who’s now 5-1 in his past six fights (the lone loss came in a title fight and rematch with champ Renan Barao), said he never considered halting the fight because of the injury. At 35, he said he’s never felt better in the cage, though he knows Father Time is looming larger and larger as he enters the second decade of his pro MMA career.

“I felt it here and there,” he said. “In the second round, I felt it for sure. But it wasn’t like a debilitating thing.”

Check out the full conversation above.

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