(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?