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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Injuries have absolutely ravaged the UFC's summer schedule, and the sheer number of changes to the events in June and July have been staggering. The quality of the cards overall have been heavily affected, and it's not just fans expressing their disappointment in the changes.
Urijah Faber, who already lost his Bantamweight Championship fight with Dominick Cruz, is now off what was looking to be a majorly stacked card at UFC 148 in Las Vegas, and instead will headline the UFC 149 in Calgary against Renan Barao. It's not a move he was hoping for, but he's trying to stay positive about the situation.
"I'm really not happy about all the changes, but there is nothing I can do," Faber said in an interview with California's News 10. "The worst part about it is I had a lot of people coming to support me [in Las Vegas] because I had been promoting the same date for the last four months."
"I was really happy to be a part of that [UFC 148 card], but my event is going to be awesome as well. Barao and myself have a chance to be fight of the year."
Penick's Analysis: It really is a shame that this fight was pulled from UFC 148. The UFC now has two pay-per-view events that will likely perform poorly in UFC 147 and UFC 149, and the card everyone was really excited about and would have gladly shelled out $60 for in UFC 148 is now nowhere near as stacked and exciting as it once was. Trying to save these frivolous pay-per-view events at the expense of what could have been a massive event on July 7 in Las Vegas may not have been the best route to take. The UFC didn't have many options, but that's one of the issues with trying to run so many events without a major group of stars to take those top spots.
[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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