California Love: Urijah Faber's 5 greatest fights in the WEC

Urijah Faber will make his final walk to the Octagon on Saturday when he meets fellow bantamweight Brad Pickett at UFC on FOX 22, in his native Sacramento. "The California Kid" may not have captured a UFC strap in his lengthy career – not for a lack of trying – but he accrued plenty of memorable feats across his lengthy stint in the WEC, a now-defunct promotion responsible for many of the UFC's best lighter weight talents.

Here are five of Faber's greatest showings in the WEC cage:

Cole Escovedo – WEC 19

In his promotional debut, Faber brought an abrupt end to Cole Escovedo's reign as WEC featherweight champion.

Prior to joining the WEC, Faber cut his teeth in King of the Cage, where he held court over the bantamweight division. Faber did his rep justice in his featherweight fight with Escovedo, putting the defending champ on his back and beating him bloody through two rounds. Escovedo would not answer the third bell, marking the beginning of Faber's lengthy reign as the WEC's preeminent 145-pounder.

Dominick Cruz – WEC 26

In his second successful title defense, The California Kid added an uber-rare distinction to his resume: he became the first - and only - man to beat current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

The pair traded leather though the bout's opening minute, before Faber rocked his bitter nemesis with a knee to the face, allowing him to lock in a guillotine choke for the tapout after just 1:38. The fight began one of MMA's longest-running rivalries, culminating in a trilogy that Cruz ultimately took with a pair of decisions after he and Faber made their way to the UFC.

Jens Pulver – WEC 34

Faber and Jens Pulver regaled the former's hometown with a WEC classic in his first fight to go a full five rounds.

A former UFC lightweight champion, "Lil' Evil" was Faber's most reputable opponent at the time, but any jitters the WEC featherweight champ felt leading up to the bout didn't accompany him to the cage. While Pulver marched the Sacramento native down for five rounds, hoping to put him away with his lethal left hand, Faber fearlessly stayed in the pocket and outstruck his opponent to take all three scorecards for his fifth – and last – title defense.

Mike Brown – WEC 41

The Sacramento native redefined the term "moral victory" in his rematch with Mike Brown.

Faber came in dead set on regaining the featherweight strap, which Brown had taken from him via first-round knockout two fights prior at WEC 36. Revenge was not meant to be, though, as Faber broke his right hand and dislocated his left thumb early in the bout, meaning the bulk of his attack came in the form of elbows and kicks from the third round onward. Faber's valiant effort took him the distance, but his resolve would not translate to the scorecards, which Brown took to sweep their two-fight saga.

Takeya Mizugaki – WEC 52

A month before the WEC held its last event and merged with the UFC, Faber ended his decorated promotional stint in emphatic fashion against the notoriously durable Takeya Mizugaki.

The pair tangled from the clinch for the bulk of the first round, and Faber then put his vaunted submission skills to use, taking Mizugaki's back before choking him into oblivion in the frame's dying seconds. Equally as memorable was the visual of a lifeless Mizugaki laying atop Faber, after the former was mercifully freed from the submission.