UFC 149 saw a new champion crowned, an interim champ that is.
Renan Barao pushed his winning streak to 29 fights by beating Urijah Faber via unanimous decision to win the UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship on Saturday night.
Barao made not have gotten the finish, but he decisively beat Faber thanks to his reach and his kicks. Each round he managed to out-point Faber and stay out of danger, leaving “The California Kid” puzzled throughout.
Barao certainly beat Faber in easier fashion than the actual champ, Dominick Cruz. It will be interesting to see if Cruz can find a way to stop the runaway train that is Barao. Barao may very well be the best 135-pounder in the world.
Faber has now lost his last five championship bouts, dating back to his time as a featherweight in the WEC. Though he is still highly competitive, he will likely not get another title fight anytime soon.
In the co-main event, Hector Lombard had a very unimpressive UFC debut.
The man considered to be a potential threat to Anderson Silva proved to be more of a threat to himself, as he was very tentative against Tim Boetsch. Neither man did much to impress, but two of the three judges believed that Boetsch did a little bit more, which earned him a split decision.
The poor showing from both men may open the door for Chris Weidman to earn the next middleweight title shot following his brutal KO win over Mark Munoz last week.
For complete results from UFC 149, check out the jump.
“UFC 131: Lesnar vs. Dos Santos” is currently scheduled to take place on June 11 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, but UFC officials have not made the location official yet.
The event is headlined by a heavyweight No. 1 contender’s bout between “The Ultimate Fighter 13” coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.
The venue , formerly known as GM Place, has hosted a UFC before. “UFC 115: Liddell vs. Franklin” was held there on June 12, 2010. British Columbia passed a bill to sanction mixed martial arts on December 17, 2009.
Official bouts confirmed for UFC 131 include:
MAIN CARD
Junior Dos Santos vs. Brock Lesnar
Demian Maia vs. Mark Munoz
Shane Carwin vs. Jon Olav Einemo
Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes
Dustin Poirier vs. Rani Yahya
The Ultimate Fighting Championship holds its second-ever event on the Versus Network tonight with UFC on Versus 2. The card will feature four main bouts and here are my thoughts on those key fights.
Light Heavyweight Bout – Jon Jones (10-1) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4): Matyushenko is a tough guy but Jones is clearly the better and more promising fighter. This fight seems like a chance for Jones to be showcased on national television to hype an even bigger fight in the future. Look for Jones to dispose of Vlady with strikes in the second round and jump into the top five of the division.
Middleweight Bout – Mark Munoz (8-1) vs. Yushin Okami (25-5): This should be a tough grappling fight as both are great wrestlers. Okami has done well in his UFC career thanks to his size and strength and I expect him to pusher a faster pace than Munoz, which will open the door for him to score a TKO win in round three as Munoz tires. Okami has only lost to Chael Sonnen and Rich Franklin in the octagon and is very under-rated in terms of his skills.
Heavy.com had the opportunity to be on hand for Friday’s “UFC on Versus 2” open workouts and were able to snap some photos and roll some video. Check out the great action shots they captured here of Jon Jones, Vladimir Matyushenko, Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz!
My hands were sweaty, my face was red but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass.
“Dana, could you tell me where you see Jose (Aldo) on your pound-for-pound list.”
The question was simple enough. I mean I ran it through my head a million times in a little over two minutes. The wording, the timing, the tone all needed to sound just right. After all, this question was directed at Dana White, President of the UFC and WEC.
Following Saturday’s WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber pay-per-view event, which was sponsored by AMP Energy, White and select fighters addressed the media. And there I was, covering my first MMA live event thanks to the people at AMP Energy.
At 27, I have been a dedicated MMA fan for seven years. Having seen the early days of Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, I was re-introduced to the UFC with Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture at UFC 43 and have been hooked since.
But I am not just a fan, I am a sports writer, and have been for about 10 years now.
I knew that the opportunity of covering MMA for Bullz-Eye.com and The Scores Report was one I wanted to be a part of because I knew that I could do it objectively and with the respect and knowledge that MMA fans want from their writers. I’m not just a fan. Still, even having interviewed some of the top athletes in the world, my eyes were locked in with White’s as he awaited my question.
As any MMA fan knows, if White thinks you asked him a stupid question, he will let you know and he will probably sprinkle in a few expletives to describe his feelings.
