Renan Barao is set to defend his interim bantamweight title for the first time, and he will try to do so against Michael McDonald in the UFC on Fuel TV 7 main event.
The Brazilian champion earned his belt with a win over Urijah Faber, but it initially looked like he would sit out and wait for fellow champion Dominick Cruz to return from injury. However, when Cruz suffered a setback in his recovery from his knee problem, Barao was matched up with McDonald.
McDonald hasn’t competed in more than nine months due to hand surgery. When he last appeared, McDonald picked up the biggest win of his career, a knockout of former WEC champion Miguel Torres.
In addition to the bantamweight title fight, an important featherweight bout between Cub Swanson and Dustin Poirier will also be featured on the main card.
To promote UFC on Fuel TV 7, held at the Wembley Arena in London, England, a pre-fight press conference will be held on Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET. Event headliners Barao, McDonald, Swanson and Poirier will likely join UFC president Dana White for the presser.
Video of the press conference will be streamed live on the above video player. After the presser, stay tuned to Bleacher Report MMA for all the latest on UFC on Fuel TV 7 and the rest of your MMA needs.
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