UFC 149: Barao tops Faber for interim bantamweight title

 

CALGARY – Using a familiar game plan, Renan Barao used chopping leg kicks and quick hands to defeat Urijah Faber and claim the UFC's interim bantamweight title.
With current titleholder Dominick Cruz sidelined following recent ACL surgery, the Brazilian staked claim to No. 1 contender's status after shutting out Faber in the five-round pay-per-view headliner of Saturday's UFC 149 event at Scotiabank Saddlehome in Calgary.
Despite a fight card decimated by injuries, UFC 149 sold out in a matter of days and tallied a Scotiabank Saddledome record with a live gate of $4.1 million. But the main event concluded a string of highly anticipated but fairly lackluster featured attractions, and boos drowned out the post-fight interviews following the night's main event.
Faber, a former WEC champion who moved to the UFC when the promotions merged in 2011, competed in his 11th title fight in his past 16 appearances. But like an April 2010 loss to Barao's teammate, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, Faber was slowed by stinging low kicks that set up up power punches and kept him from closing the distance.
With his base gone and the distance too great, Faber couldn't put the Brazilian on his back, where he had his best shot at victory. Instead, Barao attacked him with shots from varying angles, and according to Faber, may have broken one of his ribs early in the fight.
Faber said Barao's leg kicks didn't do the damage that Aldo's did a few years ago, but the result was the same: Barao picked up a dominant unanimous-decision victory (49-46, 50-45, 49-46).
"I knew Faber was a great athlete and a great fighter, but I prepared myself very well, and that was the result," an emotional Barao said through a translator. "My coaches told me to keep [kicking the legs], but it was not only that."
With no definitive timetable for Cruz's return, Barao said he's willing to defend the interim title in the meantime.
--Lombard flops in debut, Boetsch gets split decision
In the night's co-headliner, former Bellator champion Hector Lombard's heavily anticipated UFC debut was a dud, and fellow middleweight Tim Boetsch capitalized on his flatfooted opponent to pick up a split-decision victory.
While initially billed as a bout with title implications, neither fighter proved in the same class as dominant champion Anderson Silva, and the three-round snoozer ended to a chorus of boos.
Boetsch (16-4, 7-3), who's resurrected his career after a drop down from light heavyweight, used a stick-and-move game plan for an opponent who had used power, quickness and a killer instinct to post a 25-fight unbeaten streak over the past six years. But in his first appearance on MMA's biggest stage, Lombard (31-3-1, 0-1) appeared hesitant to engage, content to counter-strike and unwilling to capitalize when he occasionally had Boetsch in trouble.
It resulted in a 29-28, 28-29, 29-29 split-decision win for Boetsch.
"I was glad to give him his first loss (since 2006), though I wasn't too thrilled with how things went," Boetsch said.
With champ Silva un-booked for his next title defense, Boetsch and Lombard initially were considered candidates along with the likes of Chris Weidman and Alan Belcher. Boetsch, though, is unlikely to cut to the front of the line due to the hard-fought but no-frills victory.