Urijah Faber ‘Would Consider’ Fighting Frankie Edgar, Expects Michael McDonald

UFC bantamweight Urijah Faber said he is open to fighting Frankie Edgar in his next match.

Faber was asked about the potential matchup at Friday’s UFC Fight Club Q&A session, and said, “I would consider that. I’d like to talk to those guys, the matchmakers, and see if it’s something we can make happen.”

The former WEC featherweight champion added:

“I don’t necessarily have much say in my fights. Throughout the history of my career, I’ve always just kind of taken who they’ve given me, and I don’t know if I’d go up for that weight or they would come down or do a catchweight or something like that, but I’m definitely open to it. I do want big fights in this career.”

The 34-year-old won his third consecutive fight in the bantamweight division at UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen on August 17. He defeated Iuri Alcantara by unanimous decision, despite some trouble early in the first round. He scored 127 strikes to Alcantara’s 25 over the course of the fight for the victory.

Urijah Faber hasn’t fought outside the bantamweight division since 2010, and Frankie Edgar — a longtime lightweight — just dropped down to 145, but failed to dethrone current champion Jose Aldo in his featherweight debut at UFC 156 on February 2. Aldo retained his title by unanimous decision. Faber is also currently ranked as the #2 bantamweight in the world by Sherdog, so the promotion would prefer to keep him fighting in that division for the time being.

The most likely matchup, then, would be Michael McDonald, who is coming off a second round submission victory over Brad Pickett at UFC Fight Night 27 on August 28. McDonald is right under Faber at #3 in Sherdog‘s bantamweight rankings. Faber said a match against the 22-year-old seemed inevitable.

“I’m down,” Faber said. “I’m going to fight all these guys. Anybody that’s at the top tier is going to be fighting me at some point. That’s a fight that’s going to happen.”

Urijah Faber added, “I actually watched McDonald’s first fight when he was 16 years old, and I’ve always kind of had my eye on him. It’s been impressive to watch him, and I’m willing to go up there and beat him up.”