UFC Vet Faber Talks Coaching Opposite Irish Phenom Conor McGregor
By Richard Huner | @RichardHunter
The Ultimate Fighting Championship's long running reality television show "The Ultimate Fighter" premieres its' latest season this Wednesday, September 9th on FOX Sports 1 (10:00 pm eastern), and this time around we will see one of the promotion's most recognizable veterans coaching against the sport's fastest rising star.
Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Urijah "The California Kid" Faber will lead a squad of American lightweight mixed martial artists against interim featherweight champion "The Notorious" Conor McGregor and his crew of European 155ers.
While this will be Faber's second time coaching a season of UFC hopefuls, the experience is new for McGregor. Faber told me that their approaches to coaching proved to be vastly different.
Listen to my conversation with Urijah Faber, discussing coaching opposite Conor McGregor, and his next fight in December at UFC 194
"He was lazy", Faber told me in regards to McGregor's coaching style. "I was much more hands on with my team. Conor is very entertaining, and in that sense he was better that Dominick Cruz (Faber's coaching rival on the 2012 season). Cruz was a dud. There was less animosity (than with Cruz) but much more entertainment this time around."
Faber will return to action on December 12th when he faces Frankie Saenz on the undercard of McGregor's featherweight title unification bout with Jose Aldo at UFC 194 in Las Vegas.
Follow Richard Hunter on Twitter and Instagram @RichardHunter for breaking MMA news and live fight updates.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)