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Former bantamweight champion Renan Barao will look for his first win in three years against Douglas Silva.
Former UFC bantaweight champion Renan Barao is done fighting the scale. After consecutive weigh-in mishaps after trying to hit the 135 mark in his last couple of bouts, the 32-year-old is now headed back to the featherweight division to to take on fellow bantamweight moving up Douglas Silva, according to Combate’s report, at UFC Sao Paulo.
Currently on a four-fight losing streak, Renan Barao (34-8-1 NC) was knocked out by Luke Sanders back in February, but dropped decisions to the likes of Andre Ewell, Brian Kelleher, and Aljamain Sterling before that, missing weight by two pounds against Sanders and five against Ewell. Renan’s last win, an unanimous decision over Phillipe Nover, happened over three years ago, in Septmeber 2016, in Barao’s last featherweight fight.
Although not in a situation as dire as his opponent’s, Douglas Silva (25-3-1 NC) will also look for a fresh start in the featherweight division. Once considered a bantamweight prospect, the 34-year-old leaves the weight class behind after being TKO’d by Petr Yan back in December 2018. Silva’s last win came just before that, when he bested Marlon Vera via unanimous decision in February of the same year.
Douglas leaves the bantamweight divison with a 3-2 record, and returns for his first fight at 145 ever since his Octagon debut, in February 2014, when he dropped an unanimous decision to Zubaira Tukhugov.
Now, Renan Barao is expected to meet Douglas Silva at UFC Fight Night 164, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 16. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between former middleweight Ronaldo Souza and contender Jan Blachowicz.