During the live telecast portion of the “The Ultimate Fighter: Live” this past Friday night (May 18, 2012), UFC president Dana White revealed the replacement for injured UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz.
Brazilian Renan Barão (28-1, 1NC) will meet Urijah Faber (26-5) in a UFC interim bantamweight title match this July at UFC 148.
The promotion also announced the change at UFC.com.
On Friday evening’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter® Live, UFC President Dana White officially announced Renan Barao, 26-1 with 1 no-contest, will face Urijah Faber for the UFC Interim Bantamweight Title at UFC 148.
The fight card change comes on the heels of reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz’s knee injury, and subsequent withdrawal, in early May.
The 25-year-old Barao said: “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. 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.”
UFC 148 is expected to take place on July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event is headlined by a middleweight title rematch between 185-lbs champ Anderson Silva and top contender Chael Sonnen.
Barão owns an amazing 29-fight undefeated streak and is 5-0 under the Zuffa banner. He most recently earned a unanimous decision against Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143 this past February. While earning a submission victory against Brad Pickett at UFC 138 and a decision win against Cole Escovedo at UFC 130 in his Octagon debut.
Faber, who is currently coaching opposite Dominick Cruz on season fifteen of “TUF”, earned a second round submission win over Brian Bowles last November at UFC 149 to fight his way back into title contention. If he would have fought Cruz, it would have been the second meeting in three fights for both men, with the champ earning a decision at UFC 132 in that fight.