Urijah Faber’s return to the cage was a smashing success.
After closing out his mixed martial arts career in 2019, ‘The California Kid’ has made sporadic appearances competing in BJJ matches. On Friday, Faber headlined his A1 Combat 33 event in Sacramento, squaring off with old UFC rival Francisco Rivera Jr. in a Combat Jiu-Jitsu exhibition.
Though their match consisted of one 10-minute round, Faber needed less than half that, submitting Rivera Jr. with a rear-naked choke he has since dubbed the “No Country for Old Men,” a reference to the 2007 film starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin.
Official Result: Urijah Faber def. Francisco Rivera Jr. via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:42.
The bout represented a rematch more than a decade in the making after Faber secured a submission victory over Rivera Jr. at UFC 181 in 2014.
“I poked him and choked him back in the day,” Faber said on the JAXXON podcast before running it back with his old Octagon foe. “He’s always been salty about it.”
Faber is scheduled to return to the mat on February 28 for a wrestling match against former champ-champ Henry Cejudo at RAF 6 in Tempe, Arizona.
Check out Highlights From Urijah Faber vs. Francisco Rivera Jr. at A1 Combat 33: