Urijah Faber has been at the center of MMA for more than two decades, first as a champion fighter and later as the architect of one of the sport's most respected training camps. When Urijah Faber sat down with Sean Kelly in Las Vegas for the Digital Social Hour, the conversation covered the full arc of that career: fighting, business, fatherhood, and what comes after the cage.
It's a raw, unfiltered exchange that moves from the earliest days of MMA, when fights paid a couple hundred dollars and the sport wasn't even legal in California, all the way to where Urijah stands now: still competing, still building, and still coaching the next generation.
About Urijah Faber
Known for years as 'The California Kid,' Urijah Faber built his reputation as a former WEC featherweight champion and one of the sport's most durable stars, eventually earning induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. His longevity in a sport that chews up careers quickly is part of what makes his perspective on fighting and business so distinct.
Faber founded Team Alpha Male, which grew from a scrappy Sacramento gym into a fight camp producing UFC-level talent, including his current work coaching Song Yadong. Alongside his fighting career, he built businesses on the side, work that continues today even as he balances health, fatherhood, and a new phase of life outside full-time competition.
What Urijah Faber and Sean Kelly Talked About
- Why Urijah Faber believes mindset is what separates fighters who last from those who fade
- How he built businesses on the side just to keep affording his fight career
- What the earliest days of MMA looked like before the sport went mainstream
- How Team Alpha Male grew from a small gym into a global fight team
- Why fatherhood reshaped his priorities more than any win or loss ever did
- His approach to blood work, testosterone, and long-term health as he keeps competing
- Why he believes wrestling still doesn't get the respect it deserves in MMA
- How he keeps building new ventures years into a career most fighters retire from
Why This Conversation Matters
Few fighters get to speak with the perspective Urijah Faber brings to this conversation, someone who lived through MMA's roughest, least regulated years and came out the other side still building. His talk with Sean Kelly is a study in longevity, for fighters and entrepreneurs alike, on what it actually takes to stay relevant for decades rather than one big moment.
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube
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About Sean Kelly & the Digital Social Hour
Sean Kelly is an entrepreneur and the host of the Digital Social Hour, one of the fastest-growing interview podcasts in the world, where he sits down with entrepreneurs, athletes, creators, and cultural voices for candid, long-form conversations. The show draws over 100 million views a month across platforms. Explore more guest features on SeanKelly.io.
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