NEW YORK, N.Y. - Urijah Faber walked out on a Madison Square Garden stage in a Wes Welker jersey, the UFCs fun nod to that other "super" show this weekend. Peyton Manning would have been more appropriate choice. Like Manning, Faber is a former world champion and about as good as it gets in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Walking out of the cage on top? Thats where it gets tricky for the laidback Californian. Faber has a knack for losing MMA title fights, yet hes back in the octagon Saturday night with another shot at the belt. Faber fights 135-pound champ Renan Barao at UFC 169 at the Prudential Center, just a few miles away from MetLife Stadium, the site of Sundays Super Bowl. Hes 0 for 5 as the challenger in title bouts since 2008 — a measure of both his inability to rise to the occasion, yet proof of his tenacity to fight back toward the top. "Look at any other sport in the world. Who just quits if they didnt get No. 1?" Faber asked. "The reason I keep getting into these title fights is because no one else can beat me. Ive had fights to get into these positions and I win. And I win decisively." He sure does, including a stout 4-0 record in 2013. He choked out Michael McDonald just six weeks ago on a UFC on Fox card, and was pressed into service for Saturday night when injury-prone Dominick Cruz pulled out with a torn groin. "Im kind of used to Cruz not fighting these days," Faber said. Another UFC card going off without Cruz seems almost as automatic as one with Faber chasing another championship. Faber lost decisions to Cruz (2011) and the first Barao bout (2012) to extend his title-fight losing streak. "I figured Id fight him again," Faber said. "You start thinking about things right after the fight, the things that were difficult, the things you had success with. But I havent been dwelling on it, thats for sure. But looking again and recapping his fighting style is something Ive had to do." Fabers most notable championship reigns came with World Extreme Cagefighting. But "The California Kid" knows he needs a UFC championship to cement his status as one of the best in the world. "Saturdays a defining moment in his career," UFC President Dana White said. Jose Aldo defends his 145-pound championship against Ricardo Lamas and Alistair Overeem fights Frank Mir in a heavyweight bout to headline the fifth major UFC card at the Prudential Center since it opened in 2007. The UFC carved out a big slice of mainstream success in the New York area this week, with billboards and buses in Times Square promoting the show, and main event fighters were welcomed at the NFLs media day. "Anybody who knows the sport knows what great fights these are," White said. "Do I think were going to do 1 million buys this weekend? No, but I think were going to do well." Overeem and Mir could have main evented a PPV a few years back, but both heavyweights are fighting just to stay in UFC. Mir, a former heavyweight champion, hasnt won a bout in more than two years and has talked openly about moving into a broadcasting career. Overeem is riding a two-fight losing streak and is far removed from his prime and his last big win over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 in 2011. Hes not not ready to quit. "Fighting in the UFC is the biggest stage, so theres always pressure to perform," Overeem said. "Ill keep fighting. What else can I do?" Only 34, Mir points to aging fighters like Dan Henderson as a reason to keep going in the cage for a few more years. "If I was losing to the No. 20 guy who just got to UFC, then after he beats me he cant win another fight," Mir said, "that would weigh on me." Mir said there was no shame in losing to Junior dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, and Josh Barnett. And if Mir has to fight elsewhere, even the self-proclaimed UFC lifer would consider his options. White isnt quite ready to proclaim Mir-Overeem a good ol fashioned "loser leaves town" bout. "Everybody keeps asking me if those guys are done, if one of them are getting cut," he said. "What if the fight is a (great) fight? Ill keep them both. But they need to perform on Saturday night." Rogers Hornsby Jersey . The two were in the batting cage moments before game time. Bautista was taking final warm up cuts. Pillar was hitting soft toss. The one-time utility player turned All-Star pulled aside the clubs young, fourth outfielder and offered him some advice. Genesis Cabrera Jersey . Expensive. The NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 on Wednesday for interfering with Baltimores Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return in the third quarter of a 22-20 loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/274t-brett-cecil-jersey-cardinals.html . "I dont know where we would be without him," McClendon said. "Hes done a tremendous job for us and (Wednesday) was no different." Logan Morrison drove in two runs in Seattles big sixth inning, Young pitched seven strong innings and the Mariners beat the Houston Astros 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep. Jose Martinez Jersey . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. St. Louis Cardinals Shirts .Y. -- Dwane Casey admitted hed been concerned about his young Raptors team who had zero experience playing in close-out games -- what awaited them with the vastly-experienced Brooklyn Nets, and how theyd react.Lewis Hamilton is in meltdown after his blunders both on and off the track at the Japanese GP, according to Mondays papers. The Brit fell 33 points behind Nico Rosberg after finishing third in Suzuka following a poor start, while he cancelled two media briefings claiming he was disrespected by the written press.Hamiltons disastrous and possibly decisive weekend in the title race followed his use of Snapchat during Thursdays press conference, for which he was heavily criticised by Fleet Street. And, as Kevin Eason writes in The Times, his overblown reaction revealed a delicate ego and a fragile mental state. Japanese GP winners & losersExecutives were mouthing the word meltdown afterwards to describe Hamiltons mood after a tumultuous three days in which he slid from cocky prankster to sullen loser as he realised that this world championship is slipping through his fingers, continues Eason.While Hamilton donned a tin hat and dug his solitary trench after declaring war on the worlds press, Rosberg kept himself to himself as he has all season; head down and focus on his mantra, he says. And it works. Lewis Hamilton drops back to eighth after a poor start in the Japanese GP The Telegraphs Daniel Johnson agrees that Mercedes fear their lead driver is in meltdown at one of the most critical junctures of his career while citing that Hamilton is cracking under pressure from his team-mate.Hamilton is without a victory in five Grands Prix while Rosberg continues to flourish, and the German can afford to cruise to a maiden title with just four races remaining. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. The extra few per cent which ensured in the last two years that Rosberg was left trailing have gone missing, Johnson writes. More worrying are signs the apparent psychological fortitude he has built up can crumble so spectacularly under pressure from Rosberg. Nico and Lewis in 2016: A sprint to the finish Nico Rosberg Lewis Hamilton Points 313 280 Best possible finish 413 380 What they need for title 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st* *four wins would still not guarantee title Hamilton hits the self-destruct button, is the headline on Johnsons article, while The Daily Mail reports that Lewis needs title miracle as blunder lets Nico coast to win.dddddddddddd A Monday piece in The Guardian, meanwhile, focuses on Hamiltons Snapchat antics.It is a testament to Hamiltons apparently bottomless reserves of childishness that he somehow contrived to emerge from what should have been a relatively amusing wheeze looking utterly charmless, writes Barry Glendenning. Lewis Hamilton says his horror start in Suzuka was down to wheelspin Increasingly prone to conducting himself in the manner of a man who believes he is some sort of riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, more often than not his attempts to appear brooding and inscrutable come across as the childishness of a paranoid brat.The reaction to Hamiltons cancelled post-qualifying press briefing was also explosive within Fleet Street, with Johnson writing in the Sunday Telegraph that Hamiltons bizarre behaviour left Mercedes red-faced again.Wolff: Lewis form not affectedIn another sign that Hamilton has the freedom to act as he likes without fulfilling Mercedes wishes, the world champion suggested he would not be fulfilling his written media duties much longer, Johnson continued.The Sunday Mirrors back page headline of the story was Berk in the Merc while The Suns respective headlines read Lew-sing plot and Ham snaps. Lewis Hamiltons dad insists disappointments on the track and distractions off it wont distract the world champions bid to retain the title Lewis Hamilton was all snap and no chat, penned Jonny Fordham. Hamilton was livid at the unsurprisingly negative reaction to his childish Snapchat antics.Now the growing feeling among the paddock is that Hamilton does not just run Merc but the whole of Formula One and he has become untouchable. But this is Hamiltons world. A social media bubble where his die-hard fans worship motorsports Mr Marmite like a leader of a cult.Dont miss The F1 Reports review of the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday eveningYou can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the British Masters on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Wolff: Lewis form not affected Japanese GP winners & losers The Formula 1 Gossip Column Japanese GP driver ratings ' ' '