Renan Barao seemed content to wait for Dominick Cruz’s return from injury following his win over Urijah Faber in a fight for the interim bantamweight championship. However, he is now set to defend his belt against another rising bantamweight talent in Michael McDonald.
McDonald has been out of action for more than nine months, but he’s coming off the biggest win of his career, a knockout of former WEC champion Miguel Torres. Though he doesn’t have the same resume as Barao, the 22-year-old McDonald is considered one of the brightest young fighters in the 135-pound class and was inevitably going to be competing for a title.
While Cruz will have something to say about it once he finally recovers from his knee problem, this fight between Barao and McDonald could determine the future king of the bantamweight class.
As this clash between 135-pound phenoms approaches, let’s take a look at which areas each fighter holds his most significant advantages in.