UFC
Former UFC Champ Renan Barao returns against Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night 58 in Brazil
Oct 15, 2014 - 11:05:59 PM Former UFC Champ Renan Barao returns against Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night 58 in Brazil

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

After his weight-cutting fiasco into UFC 177, Renan Barao will return to action in non-title competition on Dec. 20.

The UFC announced on Wednesday that Barao will take on Canada's Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night 58 in Barueri, which will air live on Fox Sports 1.

Barao lost the title to T.J. Dillashaw in May, and was given an immediate rematch due to the length of his unbeaten run prior to the loss. Unfortunately, he passed out trying to make weight, leading to a trip to the hospital, and a change in the UFC 177 main event.

The UFC said they wouldn't be putting him right back into a title fight, and they're following through on that with the booking against Gagnon, who gets the biggest opportunity of his career to date. The 30-year-old Gagnon won his fourth straight in the UFC earlier this month, submitting Roman Salazar for his 11th career submission victory.

UFC Fight Night 58 will be headlined by a middleweight bout between Lyoto Machida and C.B. Dollaway.

Penick's Analysis: I'm going to be completely honest here, I kind of like this booking. Sure, Gagnon's considerably farther down the ladder, he might not even be top 15 right now, but he's an entertaining fighter who has earned a chance to make a statement. He could very well fail, and indeed that might be the most likely outcome of this attempt, but he's a very solid fighter who could also provide a stiff challenge to Barao on the ground, and if the former Champ isn't careful, it could be a bit of a trap fight for him. Of course, I wholly expect Barao to win, but I'm happy for Gagnon in getting a big opportunity when he's a 12-2 fighter overall with a significant winning streak in the division.