A mixed martial arts (MMA) trilogy is going down later this year.
MMAMania.com has confirmed with multiple sources that former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion Renan Barao will take on UFC legend Urijah Faber for the third time. The trilogy will do down in the Global Fight League (GFL).
No date or location is known, but those details will be coming out this week.
Faber and Barao first collided for the vacant Bantamweight championship at UFC 149 in 2012, with Barao winning a unanimous decision. They met again two years later at UFC 169, and this time, Barao stopped “The California Kid.”
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Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Faber (35-11) has not competed in MMA since his knockout loss to Petr Yan at UFC 245 (watch highlights). “The California Kid” has stayed active by competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and combat Jiu-Jitsu (watch here).
Last month, Faber was finally released from his UFC contract, which led to his signing on to compete with GFL.
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Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Barao (34-10) has not won a fight since 2016, when he defeated Phillipe Nover at UFC Fight Night 95: “Cyborg vs. Lansberg.” “The Baron” started his UFC career on a 22-fight win streak and defended the UFC Bantamweight title three times.
The 38-year-old Brazilian’s most recent fight was in 2023, where he lost a split decision to Walter Zamora in the co-main event of Fera Championship.
Barao is on a seven-fight losing skid.
For more GFL fight card announcements click here.