UFC bantamweight Ricky Simon came into the promotion as a star in the making. His next outing could catapult him into the stratosphere as he takes on UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber.
Ricky Simon vs. Urijah Faber
Faber will be returning from a short retirement hiatus and Simon will be welcoming him back into the Octagon. The 26-year-old looks to make the best of this opportunity.
“It’d be a little bit crazy if I said it wasn’t pretty cool to fight Urijah Faber, but at the same time my mindset is the same — every fight is my most important fight,” Simon told MMASucka.com. “I’m training for this like I do every fight, I’m going in there ready to kill.
Since I got this fight I’ve been saying, he’s a legend and it’s going to be awesome to get in there with him. But, he’s towards the end of his career and I feel like beating him is going to start my legacy.”
Ready to take on a legend
The Gracie Barra Portland product is riding an eight-fight winning streak, with three of those coming inside the UFC Octagon. When preparing to fight someone like Faber, he says he will just continue to do what he does best, work hard.
“I’m just going to keep doing what’s been working, which is training my ass off. There was like a year where I was in limbo and I couldn’t get any fights, so I told my self I’m just going to do what I do best, which is work hard. That’s the only thing I’ve ever known, so I just stay in the gym at all times. It doesn’t take long for me to get in fight shape, because I’m always in shape. So I’m just going to keep doing the only thing I know how to do which is work hard and beating people up.”
Where will a win place him in the bantamweight division?
Faber was a top 10 ranked fighter prior to exiting the Octagon for retirement. Simon sits just outside the top 15 at this point. So, from his perspective, he’s not certain what this will do for him in the rankings, but in the end, he’s fighting the name — Urijah Faber.
“I’m not sure how much it does for me in the rankings just because he’s been out for a little bit. But he was ranked, I think at least in the top 10 before he retired. I think he was seven when he fought Brad Pickett. So I don’t know how much it’s going to do for me in the rankings, but it’s going to catapult me and my career as far as beating a Hall of Famer. It’s going to be great for me either way.”
