Sacramento’s Urijah Faber ends retirement to fight at Golden 1 Center in July

A rumor circulating around the UFC world was confirmed Wednesday afternoon: Sacramento’s Urijah Faber will fight as the main event July 13. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Faber, who is 40 and hasn’t fought in more than two years, will face Ricky Simon, who is not currently ranked but is described as an up-and-comer by UFC officials.

Faber was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2017. His career ended with a unanimous decision over Brad Pickett on Dec. 17, 2016, at Golden 1 Center. He was the World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion from 2006 to 2008, thanks to a 13-fight win streak.

Among the other fights, the biggest is eighth-ranked Josh Emmett will face No. 9 Mirsad Bektic in the featherweight division. Andre Fili will face Sheymon Moraes in another featherweight match. Gian Villante will face Mike Rodriguez in a light heavyweight bout and Liu Pingyuan will fight Jonathan Martinez in a bantamweight bout.

Key local bouts include 14th-ranked featherweight Darren Elkins, who will face Ryan Hall. Elkins lives in Carmichael. And 11th-ranked women’s strawweight Cynthia Calvillo will fight Livinha Souza. Calvillo lives in Sacramento and will be competing on her birthday.