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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Urijah Faber officially has a new opponent for UFC 148, as he'll take on 25-year-old Brazilian Renan Barao on July 7 for the UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship.
Barao was expected to be the pick to replace an injured UFC Bantamweight Champ Dominick Cruz, and UFC President Dana White officially made the announcement on Friday's new episode of "The Ultimate Fighter: Live" on FX.
Faber will attempt to reverse a recent trend of losses in title fights, and he'll enter the July 7 event in Las Vegas off one of his more impressive performances in a win over former WEC Bantamweight Champ Brian Bowles last November.
Barao moves up from a fight against Ivan Menjivar on the July 7 card, and gets his first shot at gold under the Zuffa banner after five straight wins in the WEC and UFC combined. The immensely talented bantamweight is unbeaten in 29 fights since losing his MMA debut all the way back in 2005. He enters this fight off a decision win over Scott Jorgensen in February.
"I'm very surprised to be the No.1 contender to now fight Urijah Faber but I'm so very excited to fight for the title and replace Dominick Cruz," Barao said in a press release sent out by the UFC. "I'm very confident. I have been training a long time for this chance and I will be ready to go out there and put on a good show."
Penick's Analysis: This is the fight we were expecting to be announced, and it's the fight that makes the most sense right now in the division. Barao's ridiculous unbeaten streak will be on the line against the biggest star the featherweight and bantamweight divisions have yet seen in Faber. For Faber, though he's not getting a chance to avenge his decision loss to Cruz last summer just yet, still believes he's the best fighter in the world at this class, and will get a chance to prove he still belongs in that conversation here on July 7. It's unfortunate they lost the Faber-Cruz fight, but this is still a fantastic matchup, especially as a five round title fight.
[Urijah Faber art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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