UFC 149 Results & Recap: Barao outclasses Faber
Posted by Drew Ellis (07/22/2012 @ 12:55 am)
UFC 149 saw a new champion crowned, an interim champ that is.
Renan Barao pushed his winning streak to 29 fights by beating Urijah Faber via unanimous decision to win the UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship on Saturday night.
Barao made not have gotten the finish, but he decisively beat Faber thanks to his reach and his kicks. Each round he managed to out-point Faber and stay out of danger, leaving “The California Kid” puzzled throughout.
Barao certainly beat Faber in easier fashion than the actual champ, Dominick Cruz. It will be interesting to see if Cruz can find a way to stop the runaway train that is Barao. Barao may very well be the best 135-pounder in the world.
Faber has now lost his last five championship bouts, dating back to his time as a featherweight in the WEC. Though he is still highly competitive, he will likely not get another title fight anytime soon.
In the co-main event, Hector Lombard had a very unimpressive UFC debut.
The man considered to be a potential threat to Anderson Silva proved to be more of a threat to himself, as he was very tentative against Tim Boetsch. Neither man did much to impress, but two of the three judges believed that Boetsch did a little bit more, which earned him a split decision.
The poor showing from both men may open the door for Chris Weidman to earn the next middleweight title shot following his brutal KO win over Mark Munoz last week.
For complete results from UFC 149, check out the jump.
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Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Results, UFC
Tags: Anderson Silva, Boetsch vs. Lombard, Chris Weidman, Dominick Cruz, Faber vs. Barao, Hector Lombard, Mark Munoz, MMA results, Renan Barao, Tim Boetsch, UFC 149, UFC Bantamweights, ufc middleweights, ufc results, Urijah Faber
A look at the UFC 130 prelims
Posted by Drew Ellis (05/24/2011 @ 11:26 am)
With the recent addition of the WEC roster, the UFC now has stacked Pay-Per-View cards from top-to-bottom.
That includes the prelims, which now typically includes a few fights that are worthy of being on the PPV broadcast, but don’t quite make the cut.
At UFC 130, to top bantamweights collide as Miguel Torres (39-3) faces Demetrious Johnson (8-1). The winner of this fight immediately jumps into the top-5 contender status. Torres may already be there and there are plenty of exciting fights for him. Johnson is on the rise after beating “Kid” Yamamoto in his UFC debut back at UFC 126. Torres is now training at Tri-Star Gym in Montreal and his style has changed. He isn’t quite the reckless fighter he was before, but now he is taking criticism for being too cautious. Johnson will look to get inside the long reach of Torres and score takedowns to work his way for a victory on the ground.
Another featured prelim is a middleweight contest between Kendall Grove (12-8) and Tim Boetsch (12-4). Boetsch is making his middleweight debut and both fighters may need a win in order to keep a job in the UFC. Boetsch will come in looking to strike with his powerful fists while Grove will look to get the fight to the ground or in the clinch where he can use his knees. The big question for this fight will be Boetsch ability to not get winded against Grove, who pushes a fast pace.
Other bouts on the prelim card include Renan Barao vs. Cole Escovedo in a bantamweight contest, Chris Cariaso vs. Michael McDonald in a bantamweight fight, and Gleison Tibau vs. Rafaello Oliveira in a lightweight clash.