Photo courtesy of fighthousemanagement.com
Yesterday, the UFC announced that top bantamweights Renan Barao and Ivan Menjivar are now scheduled to meet at UFC 148. Barao, who was initially scheduled to meet Jeff Hougland at the event, confirmed the switch on his Twitter account by saying “Menjivar is my new opponent at UFC 148. I know him.” Brevity is the soul of wit, people.
Don’t be surprised if the winner of this fight meets the winner of UFC 148′s (expected) main event clash between Urijah Faber and champion Dominick Cruz. Both fighters are 3-0 in the octagon, with Menjivar coming off of a wild, back and forth fight against John Albert at UFC on FUEL, which saw “The Pride of El Salvador” take home a first round rear-naked choke victory and Submission of the Night honors. Meanwhile, Barao has gone twenty nine straight fights without a loss. His most recent fight was a dominant performance against Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143, which saw him take home a unanimous decision victory.
As for Barao’s initial opponent? Jeff Hougland will step in for an injured Mike Easton to fight Yves Jabouin at UFC on FUEL 3.
And speaking of Scott Jorgensen, he will look to get back in the win column against Eddie Wineland at the upcoming UFC on FX 3. Wineland has lost two straight fights, most recently losing to Joe Benavidez at UFC on Versus 5: Lytle vs. Hardy. If this fight is not win or go home for Wineland, it’s pretty damn close to it.
Also in the works for UFC on FX 3 is a bout between Mike Pyle and Josh Neer. While Twitter isn’t always the most reliable source, and this bout has not been made official by the UFC yet, Pyle recently tweeted that the bout is set. Pyle is coming off of a first round TKO victory over Ricardo Funch at UFC 142, while “The Dentist” is coming off of a first round submission victory over Duane Ludwig at UFC on FX 1.
UFC on FX 3 will be headlined by the rematch between Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson. It is set to go down on June 8th at a location TBA.