His name is [tag]Urijah Faber[/tag], and he is a champion.  With an impressive mma record of 20-1 and riding a 12 fight win streak, none of which have gone past the 2nd round, he is set to be next big thing in the mixed martial arts world - or is he?

With his long shaggy golden locks and surfer tan, he looks you’d see him in an X-Games skateboarding competition than in the octagon. Known as “The California Kid” Faber is the face of the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) organization, this 29 year old Division 1 wrestler has been decimating the competition since his loss to UFC top lightweight contender Tyson Griffin.

The Good
Possessing an unrelenting and  aggressive fighting style, Faber is an explosive fighter with an decent arsenal in his striking thanks to the coaching from World Champion Brazilian JuJitsu and Kickingboxing trainers.  For a 2-time Division 1 wrestler it is not uncommon for him to utilize varied striking - high kicks, front kicks and axe kicks to push his opponent around in the octagon.  His clinch is also surprisingly effective, standing at only 5′6″ he is able to control bigger fighters rather comfortably, throwing sharp knees and very crisp short elbows that prove to be difficult to read.  Faber is very versed at implementing dirty boxing.

When the fight does go to the ground, The California Kid is no slouch either.  His last 3 fights have ended in submissions.  Thanks to his exceptional conditioning the pace he maintains is difficult to keep up with, in his most recent fight Faber was able to constantly attack Jeff Curran with multiple kneebars, anklelocks and eventually sweep and get in position to sink in a guillotine choke.  Combined with his jujitsu, his bread and butter on the ground has to be his vicious ground and pound.  His wrestling pedigre gives him the ability manhandle his opponents up against the cage, posture up and rain heavy elbows almost at will - he looks more like a Tito Ortiz than a Sean Sherk.