Chael Sonnen Syndrome: Urijah Faber trash-talking his way to the WEC Bantamweight Title shot?

Well, actually it’s hard to call it a trash talk, but it looks like the former WEC Featherweight Champ and MMA legend Urijah Faber learned the lesson from Chael Sonnen’s UFC 109 comments, and is now on his way for a title shot. Before Chael Sonnen’s famous “pink t-shirt and earrings” rant, only a few MMA fans considered the Oregonian as the right man for a shot at Anderson Silva. But Sonnen’s media warfare paid off, showing many other fighters a good way to get themselves noticed.

There’s no problem in Faber rooting for his Team Alpha Male partner Joseph Benavidez to dethrone Cruz, and he really doesn’t need an introduction to any casual MMA fan, but his public talk about how much he dislikes Dominick Cruz certainly looks like a good way to build up a future fight. Joseph Benavidez is a great fighter, who approaches Cruz with a lot of respect in the WEC 50 pre-fight interviews. I’m not sure if the stories about Dominick Cruz being kicked out of his house will help Benavidez to win this fight.

Two-and-Three in his last five fights, Urijah Faber was originally scheduled to face the Japanese Shooto veteran Takeya Mizugaki, but was forced to pull out due to an injury. Faber will now face Mizugaki probably in Octobar, what could define the next contender for the WEC Bantamweight title. I will be the first one to agree that Urijah Faber is more than a worthy contender for both Bantamweight and Featherweight titles, but attaining a “trash-talking tactics” is a huge step back for “The California Kid”, in my opinion.