Brazilian defeats Faber in main event at UFC 149
Renan Barao extended his unbeaten streak to 29 fights as he stopped Urijah Faber to claim to the interim UFC bantamweight title.
The Brazilian picked apart his American opponent over five rounds
at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary to claim a unanimous decision
victory at UFC 149.The judges scored the fight 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 in favour of Barao, whose mixed martial arts record now stands at 29-1, with one no contest.
Barao is now set to face bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who was originally scheduled to fight Faber in July before suffering a serious knee injury.
Faber focused on protecting himself from Barao's leg kicks, but was still overworked by the 25-year-old's high strikes and combinations.
"He hurt me early with a knee to the rib. I think I might have a broken rib from that knee in the second round. I knew he was really good at keeping the distance and is he is difficult to take down," Faber said.
Barao added: "I came very well prepared for anything. I prepared my strategy very well and that was the result."
Elsewhere on the card, Hector Lombard suffered a shock defeat on his UFC debut as he was beaten on a split decision by Tim Boetsch.
The Cuban had been on a 25-fight unbeaten streak heading into the contest but came up short in his first bout in the Octagon, quelling any thoughts of a middleweight title shot in the near future.
Frenchman Cheick Kongo claimed unanimous decision win in his bout with Shawn Jordan, while in the welterweight class James Head beat Brian Ebersole on a split decision and Matthew Riddle made Chris Clements submit.
Source : SkySports.com
