UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber agrees to end retirement vs. Ricky Simon at UFC on ESPN+ 13

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is ending his retirement after more than two-and-a-half years, and he’ll do it in front of his hometown fans.

Faber (34-10 MMA, 10-6 UFC), the former WEC champion and multi-time UFC title challenger, has agreed to make his return to the octagon this summer in a three-round bantamweight matchup with Ricky Simon (15-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC on ESPN+ 13.

The event takes place July 13 in Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., and is expected to stream on ESPN+.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer first reported the contest. MMA Junkie verified verbal agreements for the fight are in place with a person close to the situation. The person wished to remain anonymous because the UFC has yet to officially announce the fight.

Faber, 40, has not fought since December 2016 when he defeated Brad Pickett by unanimous decision. Prior to that fight he’d suffered consecutive losses for the first time in his career, including a UFC 199 title fight with Dominick Cruz that saw him fall to 0-4 in bouts for UFC gold.

Since retiring, Faber has remained close to the sport as a coach at his gym Team Alpha MMA. He’s also competed in grappling, recently losing a grappling match vs. 17-year-old Nicky Ryan at Polaris 10.

Simon, 26, will bring an eight-fight winning streak into the biggest matchup of his career, including three in a row under the UFC banner. The American is coming off a notable victory over Rani Yahya at UFC 234 in February.

The latest UFC on ESPN+ 13 card now includes:

• Urijah Faber vs. Ricky Simon
• Cynthia Calvillo vs. Livinha Souza
• Darren Elkins vs. Ryan Hall
• Cezar Ferreira vs. Marvin Vettori
• Beneil Dariush vs. Drakkar Klose
• Sara McMann vs. Nicco Montano
• Martin Day vs. Benito Lopez
• Karl Roberson vs. John Phillips

For more about UFC on ESPN+ 13, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.