“If Faber wanted to come back, I would,” he began, stopping himself before dismissing a second fight with “The California Kid,” whom he beat at UFC 203. “Well, the two big hits I got from Faber in that fight were an eye-poke and a groin shot, so I would like that one back to f*** him up, to be honest with you.
“He did f*** up my eye a lot and I would love to get that one back and beat the s*** out of him for that.”
For now, he’s focused on Munhoz, picking up a second straight victory, and hopefully being able to hustle back into action sooner, rather than later, though who is available is always a consideration as well.
“There’s so many opportunities and at the end of the day, I think it’s all how you perform,” he said. “It all depends on how I come out of the fight.
“If I come out of the fight good, then we try to do a quick turnaround. If not, I’ve got to recover and figure things out. It’s also who’s available.”
Given the slate of key matchups on the calendar between now and the end of March, there should be an abundance of options for Rivera to consider, whether he comes out victorious and unscathed, vanquished and in need of time off, or some other combination of the two.
And hopefully, regardless of how his rematch with Munhoz plays out, this weekend will be the last time people fail to recognize that Rivera is one of the best bantamweights in the world.