Tag: Renan Barao

Yes, Renan Barao Will Defend His Interim Bantamweight Title Against Michael McDonald

(Well, it was either this or “Ya Mo Be There.” / Props: FreeFights4You)

As confirmed by UFC president Dana White on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao will indeed defend his belt against 21-year-old rising star Michael McDonald, with Dominick Cruz out of action until the second half of 2013 due to continued knee problems. A date and location for the fight have yet to be determined.

Though the UFC has been messing around with interim titles since 2003, Barao vs. McDonald will be just the second third time that a UFC interim champion will fight another contender while the actual champ remains sidelined. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was the last to do so, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against Tim Sylvia in February 2008, then lost it in an interim title defense against Frank Mir later that year. (Update: Andrei Arlovski did it before Nog, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against, yes, Tim Sylvia in February 2005, then defended it successfully against Justin Eilers four months later. Arlovski was declared the UFC’s official heavyweight champion after that fight.)

Barao, who originally planned to wait out Cruz’s injury to ensure a shot at the unified belt, won his interim title in a decision against Urijah Faber in July, extending his career win streak to 19 (!), the last four of which have come inside the Octagon. McDonald is also 4-0 in the UFC, and is coming off first-round knockouts of Miguel Torres and Alex Soto. As MMAFighting points out, McDonald has the opportunity to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history should he find a way to beat the Brazilian juggernaut.

After the jump: Dominick Cruz shares more details about his recent re-injury, and how he’s dealing with the setback.


(Well, it was either this or “Ya Mo Be There.” / Props: FreeFights4You)

As confirmed by UFC president Dana White on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao will indeed defend his belt against 21-year-old rising star Michael McDonald, with Dominick Cruz out of action until the second half of 2013 due to continued knee problems. A date and location for the fight have yet to be determined.

Though the UFC has been messing around with interim titles since 2003, Barao vs. McDonald will be just the second third time that a UFC interim champion will fight another contender while the actual champ remains sidelined. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was the last to do so, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against Tim Sylvia in February 2008, then lost it in an interim title defense against Frank Mir later that year. (Update: Andrei Arlovski did it before Nog, when he won the interim heavyweight belt against, yes, Tim Sylvia in February 2005, then defended it successfully against Justin Eilers four months later. Arlovski was declared the UFC’s official heavyweight champion after that fight.)

Barao, who originally planned to wait out Cruz’s injury to ensure a shot at the unified belt, won his interim title in a decision against Urijah Faber in July, extending his career win streak to 19 (!), the last four of which have come inside the Octagon. McDonald is also 4-0 in the UFC, and is coming off first-round knockouts of Miguel Torres and Alex Soto. As MMAFighting points out, McDonald has the opportunity to become the youngest titleholder in UFC history should he find a way to beat the Brazilian juggernaut.

After the jump: Dominick Cruz shares more details about his recent re-injury, and how he’s dealing with the setback.

Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao Open to McDonald Fight

As the return date for UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz got pushed back further and further, interim champ Renan Barao’s willingness to wait for a title unification fight has wavered and wavered. In an interview with MMA Junkie, Barao stated he is …

As the return date for UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz got pushed back further and further, interim champ Renan Barao‘s willingness to wait for a title unification fight has wavered and wavered.

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Barao stated he is open to a fight with high-ranking bantamweight Michael McDonald. “My goal was to fight [Cruz] because I wanted to unify the belts, but unfortunately he isn’t in any condition for that…I already had it in my mind that I could fight McDonald,” said Barao through a translator. “He’s coming off of good wins and good knockouts. It makes sense.”

Barao beat former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber to become the interim bantamweight champion at UFC 149. The interim championship came about when Dominick Cruz injured his knee preparing for a fight with Faber.

Cruz was initially penciled in to return in early 2013, but has recently suffered complications recovering from a torn ACL that required a second surgery. This could keep Cruz sidelined for another twelve months, and as such, Barao is looking for another opponent.

Michael McDonald is widely regarded as the third-best bantamweight in MMA, behind only Cruz and Barao. McDonald has a 15-1 record in MMA, and is 5-0 in the WEC and UFC. His most recent win came via a first-round knockout over former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres.

Neither Barao nor McDonald have anything scheduled, making this fight very possible. Both fighters are young (Barao is 25, McDonald is 21) and extremely talented, which could make for a great fight in early 2013.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar Possible for UFC 157

Urijah Faber was expected to fight in February, but the card and opponent are now different. MMAWeekly.com is reporting that verbal agreements are in place for Faber to square off in a rematch against Ivan Menjivar at UFC 157.The bantamweight…

Urijah Faber was expected to fight in February, but the card and opponent are now different. MMAWeekly.com is reporting that verbal agreements are in place for Faber to square off in a rematch against Ivan Menjivar at UFC 157.

The bantamweight bout would be taking place on February 23 from the Honda Center in Anaheim with Dan Henderson vs Lyoto Machida on the card as well.

It was reported by Tatame.com nine days ago that Faber was going to face Vaughan Lee at UFC 156 on February 2 in Las Vegas. Lee, though, told Fighters Only on Saturday that the fight was just a rumor and nothing more.

We last saw Faber in the cage at UFC 149 in July, where he lost by unanimous decision to Renan Barao for the UFC interim bantamweight championship.

The last time we saw Menjivar step into the Octagon was at UFC 154 last month when he defeated Azamat Gashimov by first round submission.

Faber and Menjivar fought in 2006 under the TKO Promotion based in Canada. Faber won the fight by disqualification as Menjivar kicked Faber while he was down on the mat.

 

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

[INJURYCEPTION] Injured Champ Dominick Cruz Re-Injures Himself While Recovering From Injury, Now Out Most of 2013


(Dominick Cruz, seen here seconds after being made aware that Dominick Cruz had been injured yet again.) 

It just doesn’t end, you guys. It. Doesn’t. Fucking. End.

The insatiable injury curse of 2012 — seemingly fed up with claiming non-injured, active fighters — has somehow grown powerful enough to affect those who were already injured to begin with. NO, IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.

And while the title may be a little misleading being that bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz didn’t truly re-injure himself, but rather failed to recuperate properly from the ACL injury that has kept him out of action since May, it looks like we won’t be seeing “The Dominator” dominating anything but a Domino’s delivery menu until late 2013 [WORDPLAY]. The newsbroke earlier today that the anterior cruciate ligament Cruz had replaced with that of a cadaver’s following his run on TUF 15 was rejected by his body, forcing the champ to undergo additional surgery in order repair/replace it.

“He’s pissed and disappointed,” remarked Cruz’s trainer Eric Del Fierro, echoing the sentiment of not only MMA fans around the world but that of MMA hack journalists such as myself.

I mean, I’m running out of ways to continue delivering bad news to you guys in this format. Creativity be damned; I feel like a World War 2 messenger at this point, just handing out notifications of death to the families of the deceased, trying to remain as emotionally unavailable as possible while little Jimmy Pocket and his Mom stare at me with tear-filled eyes. No Jimmy, your father isn’t coming home this Christmas. And that really awesome toy you wanted? You won’t be getting that either, because Santa never existed and now your Mom will have to pull double shifts at the diner and sell her body for money nightly just so you can eat canned hot dogs and stay off the street long enough to die with some dignity at age 7, when, following your Mom’s inevitable descent into cocaine and then full-on heroin addiction she’s since developed as a coping mechanism for being ravaged by the local charlatans and bottom-feeders day after day, she will fall asleep with a cigarette in her mouth and burn your house to the ground while you are dreaming of something, anything to remove you from the hellish nightmare your existence has become.


(Dominick Cruz, seen here seconds after being made aware that Dominick Cruz had been injured yet again.) 

It just doesn’t end, you guys. It. Doesn’t. Fucking. End.

The insatiable injury curse of 2012 — seemingly fed up with claiming non-injured, active fighters — has somehow grown powerful enough to affect those who were already injured to begin with. NO, IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE.

And while the title may be a little misleading being that bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz didn’t truly re-injure himself, but rather failed to recuperate properly from the ACL injury that has kept him out of action since May, it looks like we won’t be seeing “The Dominator” dominating anything but a Domino’s delivery menu until late 2013 [WORDPLAY]. The newsbroke earlier today that the anterior cruciate ligament Cruz had replaced with that of a cadaver’s following his run on TUF 15 was rejected by his body, forcing the champ to undergo additional surgery in order repair/replace it.

“He’s pissed and disappointed,” remarked Cruz’s trainer Eric Del Fierro, echoing the sentiment of not only MMA fans around the world but that of MMA hack journalists such as myself.

I mean, I’m running out of ways to continue delivering bad news to you guys in this format. Creativity be damned; I feel like a World War 2 messenger at this point, just handing out notifications of death to the families of the deceased, trying to remain as emotionally unavailable as possible while little Jimmy Pocket and his Mom stare at me with tear-filled eyes. No Jimmy, your father isn’t coming home this Christmas. And that really awesome toy you wanted? You won’t be getting that either, because Santa never existed and now your Mom will have to pull double shifts at the diner and sell her body for money nightly just so you can eat canned hot dogs and stay off the street long enough to die with some dignity at age 7, when, following your Mom’s inevitable descent into cocaine and then full-on heroin addiction she’s since developed as a coping mechanism for being ravaged by the local charlatans and bottom-feeders day after day, she will fall asleep with a cigarette in her mouth and burn your house to the ground while you are dreaming of something, anything to remove you from the hellish nightmare your existence has become.

…

No word yet on whether or not Renan Barao will defend his title against Michael McDonald in Cruz’s absence, but we’re gonna guess…maybe?

–J. Jones

Renan Barao vs. Michael McDonald Head-to-Toe Breakdown

With UFC president Dana White recently revealing that interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao will likely have to defend his title while waiting for Dominick Cruz to return from a torn ACL, speculation has arisen over who may challenge the Brazillian po…

With UFC president Dana White recently revealing that interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao will likely have to defend his title while waiting for Dominick Cruz to return from a torn ACL, speculation has arisen over who may challenge the Brazillian powerhouse.

While no matchup has been announced yet, White all but confirmed that 21-year-old Michael McDonald will be the man for the job during the UFC’s trip to Montreal earlier this month.

Fans should be excited for this possible interim title bout because a battle between these two bantamweight contenders will definitely be an action-packed, firework-filled affair.

Here’s how I see Barao and McDonald matching up against each other in a head-to-toe breakdown.

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“The California Kid” is Back, Faces Vaughan Lee in #1 Contender Bout at UFC 156 [BA DUM TSSH]


(“It looks like this artist…*puts on sunglasses*… finally got his SHOT at fame. AWWWW YEAAAAHHHH!!!) 

There is perhaps no fighter in MMA history who has looked more deadly in victory and more broken in defeat than former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. After dropping his umpteenth title bid (albeit one of those pesky interim ones) to Renan Barao at UFC 149, many MMA pundits were calling for “The California Kid’s” retirement, because in their eyes, being able to beat 98% of your division just isn’t good enough to warrant your existence.

Yet for some reason, it appears that Faber still wants to continue making boatloads of cash in this thing called MMA, and will return at UFC 156 to face off against Vaughan Lee.

Who in the blue Hell is Vaughan Lee, you ask? Good question.


(“It looks like this artist…*puts on sunglasses*… finally got his SHOT at fame. AWWWW YEAAAAHHHH!!!) 

There is perhaps no fighter in MMA history who has looked more deadly in victory and more broken in defeat than former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. After dropping his umpteenth title bid (albeit one of those pesky interim ones) to Renan Barao at UFC 149, many MMA pundits were calling for “The California Kid’s” retirement, because in their eyes, being able to beat 98% of your division just isn’t good enough to warrant your existence.

Yet for some reason, it appears that Faber still wants to continue making boatloads of cash in this thing called MMA, and will return at UFC 156 to face off against Vaughan Lee.

Who in the blue Hell is Vaughan Lee, you ask? Good question.

Currently 12-8-1, Lee has dropped two of his three octagon appearances, with the sole win coming over Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto by way of first round armbar at UFC 144. Lee is currently on the heels of a first round neck crank submission loss to TUF 14 runner-up T.J. Dillashaw at UFC on FUEL 4. He’s cannon fodder is what we’re saying, and after Faber is through with him, he will place Lee’s head in a fish tank right next to the remains of Jens Pulver and quietly reflect on his triumphs whilst sipping whiskey all by his lonesome.

UFC 156 will also feature welterweight prospect Erick Silva making his return against UFC 0fer Jay Hieron and a bunch of other really exciting fights that I simply refuse to get excited for because we are living in “the pussy era” of MMA and half of these fighters will likely bow out in the coming weeks.

–J. Jones