Renan Barao beats Urijah Faber at UFC 149
Renan Barao won the interim bantamweight title with a unanimous decision against Urijah Faber at UFC 149 on Saturday night in Calgary, Canada.
“I came very well prepared for everything,” the Brazilian said through an interpreter. “I knew Faber was a great fighter, but I was prepared.”
He added: “This is the happiest moment of my life.”
Barao won the bout 50-45, 49-46, 49-46, with an onslaught of punches and kicks as well as stellar takedown defense. But Faber managed to hold his own and land a decent amount of punches.
“He hurt me early with a knee to the rib,” Faber said. “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 he is difficult to take down.”
Barao has now gone unbeaten in 30 consecutive fights, with one declared a no contest, and has won 19 in a row. The only blemish on his 29-1 record came in his first professional bout in 2005.
He is now in position to challenge current titleholder Dominick Cruz, who had to withdraw from a scheduled bout with Barao earlier this month because of a knee injury.
In the co-main event, middleweight Tim Boetsch won in a split-decision over UFC newcomer Hector Lombard.
“I was glad to give him his first loss, though I wasn’t too thrilled with how things went,” Boetsch said. “I landed a few strikes. My foot is a testament to that. Hector is heavy-handed and a tough fighter. He’s a power striker but I knew that and was able to put together a good strategy to beat him.”
Also on the main card, welterweight Matthew Riddle got a submission win over Chris Clements at 2:02 of the third round, welterweight James Head won a split decision over Brian Ebersole, and heavyweight Cheick Kongo earned a unanimous decision over Shawn Jordan.
Earlier in the evening, Ryan Jimmo nearly made history in his UFC debut. He knocked out Anthony Perosh with a heavy right-hand punch only seven seconds into their light-heavyweight bout on the preliminary card, one second off the UFC record held by Duane Ludwig.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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