Once upon a time in the land of American MMA people were forced to fight several divisions above their optimum weight-class. Issues like this were a detriment to certain fighters. Fighting as a 155lbs lightweight, instead of a 135lbs bantamweight was a walk in the park for mega-talented fighters like Urijah Faber.

The only downside to this was the fact that after the draw between Caol Uno and BJ Pennn at UFC 41 for the lightweight strap– the lightweight division was eliminated from the UFC. This was in 2003, and the UFC would not reintroduce the lightweight division until 2006.

As a result, fighters such as Din Thomas and Matt Serra, had to fight at 170lbs, or look to ply their trade elsewhere.

For fighters like Tyson Griffin and Urijah Faber, this was a doubly difficult pill to swallow. Not only did they have to fight at a higher weight class in order to get paid more– they had to fight in smaller organizations such as Gladiator Challenge and King of the Cage. However, it is lucky for us that this all occurred. If not, you would not be able to watch this epic fight at this very moment!

I have to give it to Gladiator Challenge. This non-Zuffa promotion once featured some of the world’s best fighters. Fighters like Rashad Evans, Rampage, and Jake Shields cut their teeth in this organization at the start of their successful MMA careers. The same can be said for Faber and Griffin.

This fight was the ninth of Faber’s career. For Griffin, it was only his third fight. What would appear to be a mismatch turned into a hotly contested bout that ends as suddenly as it does violently. Behold the glory that was 2005.

Great fight huh? Now, since Tyson Griffin has dabbled at 145lbs, I would like to see Faber move back up to 145lbs for a rematch someday. This is quite unlikely, as many would consider Griffin unworthy of Faber’s time at this point. Well I beg to differ. Losses stay with you. Similar to how Matt Hughes says he is not interested in fighting Dennis Hallman, you have to assume he would like to clean up those two losses. For Faber, I would have to assume that this fight still haunts him. In fact, after this fight, Faber would go on a three year, thirteen fight win streak and never looked back.

I guess we will have to wait for Faber to fall off the way Griffin has before we will have any chance of a rematch materializing. That’s OK, because we aren’t going anywhere.

Think this is a terrible idea? Do you love it? Am I crazy? Leave a comment below!