At UFC 169, Renan Barao made his first appearance as the undisputed bantamweight champion.
Following another injury to Dominick Cruz, who was originally supposed to meet him on Saturday, Barao dropped his interim tag and faced Urijah Faber in a rematch. In the first round, Barao floored the fighter he defeated at UFC 149 to earn UFC gold and finished the fight with hammerfists.
While there was some controversy because it looked as though Faber could have continued fighting, Barao successfully established himself as the better fighter, putting “The California Kid” on the ropes for much of the first round.
Jose Aldo, a Nova Uniao teammate with Barao, also defended his featherweight championship over the weekend. The Brazilian picked challenger Ricardo Lamas apart with leg kicks and cruised to a decision victory.
With another UFC event in the books, here are the matchups that should be next for Barao, Aldo and the rest of the UFC 169 competitors.