(Faber works out on a public tennis court and scares the hell out of the local kids in Fight Magazine’s latest video project.)

Urijah Faber had a rough 2009.  He rebounded from his shocking upset loss to Mike Brown with a submission win over the increasingly beatable Jens Pulver, then lost a second fight to Brown that resulted in some seriously messed up mitts.  A 1-1 year with a little hand surgery might be no biggie to some fighters, but considering that Faber had beaten the hell out of everyone in his path from October of 2005 up through June of 2008, you can see how that many bummers in a row might have been a new and unpleasant experience for him. 

This Sunday Faber jumps back in against 27-year-old Brazilian Rafael Assuncao, who is 15-1 and currently riding a nice little six-fight winning streak of his own.  His only loss so far was a somewhat suspect decision against Jeff Curran who, it should be noted, Faber beat by submission back in 2007.  Obviously, the WEC has to be hoping for a Faber renaissance in 2010, since he’s still one of the most recognizable names they have.  Assuncao is not exactly an easy win for anybody at this point, but Faber needs a victory like Mizuto Hirota needs a cast and some Vicodin right now.

After the jump, relive Assuncao’s scrap with Curran and ask yourself, could this man get Urijah’s year off to a very bad start, or is he fodder for a brand new "California Kid" highlight reel?

(Fred Sanford, bitch. Photo courtesy of the WEC 40 weigh-ins gallery on Combat Lifestyle.)

From tonight’s "Torres vs. Mizugaki" show at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago, Illinois:

Rafael Dias def. Mike Budnick via unanimous decision
Akitoshi Tamura def. Manny Tapia via unanimous decision
Rani Yahya def. Eddie Wineland via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:07 of round 1
Wagnney Fabiano def. Fredson Paixao via unanimous decision
Dominick Cruz def. Ivan Lopez via unanimous decision [fight halted in third round after Lopez took an illegal knee and couldn't continue; match went to the scorecards, with the incomplete third round included]
Anthony Njokuani def. Bart Palaszewski via TKO, 0:27 of round 2

("Brow down, bitches!")

Remember when the WEC’s featherweight division just consisted of Urijah Faber and the handful of dudes who were sent in to get trounced by him? Now we’ve got Mike Brown and Leonard Garcia fighting for the title, and guys like Wagnney Fabiano and Jose Aldo slaying their way up the ladder. It’s an exciting place to fight, and the division got even deeper this week with two high-profile additions to the 145-pound roster.

On Monday, MMA Junkie reported that #10-ranked featherweight Rafael Assuncao was signed to a multi-fight deal, with his debut possibly coming at WEC 40 (April 5th, Chicago). Assuncao is 12-1 with eight wins by submission, and holds career wins over Joe Lauzon and Jorge Masvidal. Most recently he scored a 12-second knockout over Joe "The Triangular Strangler" Pearson at an Ironheart Crown show in November. Though he was previously associated with Unit 2 Fitness in Atlanta, Assuncao will be moving to American Top Team, the home of current WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown. Said Assuncao’s manager Malki Kawa: