Was Urijah Faber really translating for Raulian Paiva at UFC Vegas 32?

UFC Vegas 32: Twitter was very confused when Urijah Faber started translating Portuguese.

Raulian Paiva defeated Kyler Phillips via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28), at UFC Vegas 32 on Saturday, July 24, 2021, live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, NV.

“I didn’t come to America to play games… I’m focused on training all day, and becoming a world champion,” said Paiva, with Urijah Faber serving as the translator. Yep. THAT Urijah Faber.

But of course, he wasn’t actually translating. Instead, the real translator whispered the words to Faber and Faber relayed them. It was cool either way.

Several UFC fighters were skeptical of Faber’s skill as a translator. Belal Muhammad did not believe that Paiva said what Faber translated. Herbert Burns replied telling Muhammad that he did not.

Other fighters were more complimentary of Faber’s fake translation skills.

https://twitter.com/thedeathstar_1/status/1419102187834249218

Raulian Paiva defeated Kyler Phillips via a controversial decision

Phillips started with a combination that dropped Paiva, who was able to survive and return to his feet. Phillips continued to come forward and apply pressure. Paiva caught a kick and dumped Phillips to the ground. Phillips was able to return to his feet and switched positions. Phillips hurt Paiva, catching him as he came in with a right hand. Phillips continued the onslaught, coming forward and attacking until the very end of the round. Paiva was in serious trouble at the end of the round and was saved by the bell.

Paiva came out and attacked to start the second round, going for a takedown but failing to get it. Phillips landed an outside leg kick but ate a jab. The two traded right hands, with Paiva dropping Phillips. Paiva continued to apply pressure, chasing down Phillips, who was able to fight his way off of the cage. Phillips went for a flying knee and spinning back elbow but neither connected. The tempo of the fight changed, as Phillips landed a takedown. Paiva was able to fight his way back to his feet. The frantic action continued as both the fighters continued to attack. Phillips lost the back towards the end of the round. In the final 30 seconds of the round, both fighters landed a powerful right hand.

Phillips opened the final round with a right cross but had his takedown attempt blocked. Phillips landed another powerful right hand. Paiva came right back with a three-punch combination. Phillips landed another takedown but Paiva was able to get to the fence and get back up. Paiva was able to reverse position and get side control. Phillips fought his way back to his feet and landed a massive right hand before the horn sounded to end the fight.

Originally, Phillips was scheduled to fight Raphael Assuncao. However, Assuncao was forced to pull out of the fight with a bicep injury and was replaced by Paiva on one month’s notice. Phillips entered the fight as the UFC’s 14th ranked fighter in the bantamweight division. In his last fight, Phillips defeated Song Yadong at UFC 259.

Paiva has bounced between the flyweight and bantamweight divisions throughout his career. After winning two straight fights at flyweight, Paiva entered the fight as the 12th ranked flyweight. However, Paiva badly missed weight for his last fight at UFC 251, when he defeated Zhalgas Zhumagulov.

UFC Vegas 32 took place on Saturday, July 24, 2021, live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, NV. Follow along with FanSided all your live news and highlights.