Controversial losses and decisions happen all too often in MMA, and it is rare to see anything accomplished or changed after the fact.
Francisco Rivera is out to change that trend after he was the victim of some bad luck and circumstances this past weekend at UFC 181.
In the biggest fight of his career, Rivera took on former WEC champion and perennial UFC contender Urijah Faber in the main event of the preliminary card.
After a stellar first round, Rivera was caught with an inadvertent eye poke that led to Faber’s fight-ending bulldog choke just moments later. The referee never saw the eye poke, and the submission victory was awarded to Faber.
Rivera plans to appeal the decision to the NSAC, but what he really wants is a rematch with “The California Kid”. Luckily for Rivera, Faber is willing to throw down once again, but only if it is a quick turnaround.
How soon? UFC 182 soon.
“I think we’re both low in weight, maybe we do it Jan. 3 (at UFC 182),” Faber told Sherdog.com during a Radio interview. “I’d be down to jump in there again, get another fight in, another payday and have a good fight. The thing with that is you only get so many fights, so if they want to set that up we can do it like sooner rather than later.”
Considering UFC 182 only has ten fights compared to the usual eleven, it is hypothetically possible for UFC to add Faber-Rivera to the already stacked card.
Rivera, who also spoke with Sherdog, is certainly interested in Faber’s plan, but only if his eye is healthy enough for competition.
“Yeah, definitely,” Rivera exclaimed. (I just have to) make sure my eye looks good and everything looks good, and I’m definitely looking to get back in there with him.”
