Although he has lost twice to Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber thinks two of his Alpha Male teammates can succeed where he failed.
In a recent interview with MMAJunkie.com, Faber discussed his faith in both Chad Mendes and T.J. Dillashaw and reaffirmed his belief that either can become the new featherweight champion. Faber said that despite Mendes suffering two losses against Aldo, he has shown that he has the ability to beat Aldo in both matches.
“Chad did amazing, and I think that’s a fight that will probably happen again,” Faber said. “He wanted to win, but he had an amazing performance. When you let it all hang out and you put it all on the line, it’s kind of hard to be disappointed in yourself, so that’s the mentality that he had.
“He had a performance that everyone was entertained with and everyone was proud of him for, so it was really cool to see him get some victory in the loss. I’ve had those before. I’ve had big fights where you lose, but you came out a victor. Mike Brown was a fight like that for me. I broke my hands and had a five-round war. I learned a lot about myself from that loss, and I think that’s what’s going to happen with Chad.”
While Dillashaw will defend his title against Dominick Cruz next, he also seems ready to move up a weight class and fight Aldo in a champion vs. champion battle.
“I want to fight Aldo so bad,” Dillashaw recently said on Team Alpha Male Radio . “I will beat Aldo. I want to fight him. … I respect him. He’s an awesome fighter.”
Faber says that a match between Dillashaw and Aldo would be one for the ages.
“T.J. is a super competitive guy,” Faber said said. “Right now we’ve got a guy that believes in himself, a guy that’s extremely talented and a gifted athlete. He can do anything. I don’t think it would be a mismatch by any means. Whoever brings their best game on that day would win. Aldo might be a little bit bigger, but I think T.J. would be the guy more willing to die in the cage. That’s just the way he is, so there’s something to be said about that.”
“The California Kid” believes that both of his teammates have shown that they have what it takes to become the champion. Now it is just a matter of putting the pieces together to get it.
“I know that Aldo is one of the best pound-for-pound guys, but Chad and T.J. are both right there as well,” Faber said. “They both have what it takes to get the job done.”
