Urijah Faber blasts, chokes out Brian Bowles to earn title shot

by Dann Stupp and John Morgan on Nov 19, 2011 at 10:25 pm ET



Urijah Faber is one big step closer to reclaiming a big-show championship.

The bantamweight fighter blasted and then choked out fellow ex-WEC champion Brian Bowles and immediately called out the reigning titleholder.

The fight aired on UFC 139's pay-per-view main card from HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., following prelims on Facebook and Spike TV.

The fighters traded heavy blows through the first few minutes of the fight, but Faber scored a big takedown and landed a brief amount of ground and pound before the round ended.

But early in the second round, Faber stunned Bowles with a big right uppercut, followed him to the mat with punches, and then blasted him with violent elbow strikes as he tried to get back to his feet. Faber then slapped on a top-side guillotine choke to force a tap-out.

The end came at the 1:27 of the second round.

After the fight, Faber called out current bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, against whom he's 1-1. The victory over Bowles earns him another shot at the champ's title.

"That's how you finish the fights," Faber said. "Dominick, you can run, but you can't hide, homeboy."

Faber (26-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was fighting for the first time since his decision loss to Cruz back in July. Bowles (10-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), meanwhile, suffers his first UFC loss.