This weekend a certifiable, first ballot Hall of Famer looks to potentially redefine his legacy on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s one of the crazy quirks of Dominick Cruz tearing his grown and necessitating a replacement for UFC 169; we’ve gone from questioning Cruz’z decision to take on such a tough fight after an extensive layoff to having a question of equal importance in the MMA world.
What will be the final legacy of “The California Kid” and longtime title challenger Urijah Faber? A win Saturday and he becomes the third fighter to hold both linear UFC and WEC titles (Benson Henderson and Frank Shamrock being the others) and finally sheds the mantra of being the best fighter in UFC history to never hold UFC gold.
It’s amazing timing because this weekend Peyton Manning looks to redefine his legacy of being the greatest regular season NFL quarterback into being one of the truly elite by becoming the first QB to win Super Bowl titles as the starter for two different teams.
Urijah Faber and Peyton Manning will both have their legacies sealed by the time Monday morning comes around because this weekend can potentially reshape their respective legacies.
Faber is a first ballot hall of famer … if MMA had a legitimate hall of fame that didn’t comprise a “Current Friends of the Fertittas” style of lifetime achievement award the UFC Hall of Fame is in essence. Faber was the crusader for the lighter weight classes for so long that when he came into the UFC it was long overdue. After losing the WEC featherweight title, though, he’s managed to have a pattern to his career. He’ll go out and blow the doors off a very tough competitor or two to get back to a title shot … and then fail to pull the trigger against the champion.
Renan Barao represents Faber’s last shot at UFC gold, potentially, for any number of reasons. A loss here and he cements his legacy on a historical basis as the tier above the Kenny Florian level, the perennial bridesmaid who never was the bride. Faber held WEC gold, and held it for some time, but never regained a title after he was stopped savagely by Michael Thomas Brown for it.
Without UFC gold he becomes a fighter who had his run at the top and stayed elite for a long period of time afterward but never was able to pull that championship gear out. Many could argue he’d qualify for the Hall of Very Good, not the Hall of Fame. In many ways his quest on Saturday resembles Manning’s 24 hours later.
Manning is a first ballot hall of famer and easily one of the Top 10 quarterbacks to ever play the game. Anyone who doubts that doesn’t deserve to watch football anymore. He’s posted the best numbers of anyone who’s played the position and managed to come back from a neck injury that should’ve finished his career to lead a second team to the Super Bowl at the twilight of his career. He has a Super Bowl win, mainly due to a Colts defense out performing Rex Grossman and the Bears, but for many years he’s been in the shadows of many others because his teams have lost in the playoffs repeatedly despite any number of reasons why they shouldn’t have.
He has a Super Bowl ring … but when a second was on the line against the Saints a critical error on his part cost them the game.
Manning is nearly untouchable when there isn’t a title on the line, setting records left and right while looking every inch the part of elite quarterback. When the playoffs start, though, he’s never been able to torch people in the playoffs like he does in the regular season.
It’s why this weekend matters for both men. This is a chance to redefine what’ll serve as their final legacy.
Manning needs a win this Sunday to really earn that proper respect as one of the elite of the elite; a win and he takes his rightful place as one of the truly exceptional handful to have ever gotten under center and called out a play the highest levels. A win there and he’s done what no one else has.
Faber wins and he’s cemented as one of the all time greats and not as someone who was elite when no one was watching. Having Dana White strap those 12 pounds of gold around his waist sheds that legacy of being elite but not a champion when it mattered the most. A win Saturday night and Faber’s multiple failed title shots after his initial run fall to the wayside in the same way Super Bowl XLIV will be conveniently ignored for Manning.
That’s why this weekend matters most; two of their respective sport’s greatest ambassadors and fighters have one final chance at changing what the history books will say about them.
