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Urijah Faber (26-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has his opponent for UFC 148's co-headliner and interim-bantamweight-title fight.
During tonight's new episode of "The Ultimate Fighter: Live," UFC president Dana White confirmed surging 135-pound contender Renan Barao (28-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has gotten the slot.
The fight was booked after reigning champion Dominick Cruz (19-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was forced out of a rubber match with Faber following a recent ACL injury.
Cruz and Faber currently are coaches on "TUF: Live," and their season-ending fight was slated for UFC 148, which takes place July 7 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Faber vs. Barao, which will be contested over five rounds, is the pay-per-view co-headliner behind the night's main event of middleweight champion Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen.
Barao initially was slated to fight Ivan Menjivar (24-8 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 148. Menjivar's next move is at this point unknown.
Michael McDonald (15-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) also was in the running for the Faber fight, but an injury reportedly left him unavailable for the fight.
Faber, the most famous fighter and a former featherweight champion with the now-defunct WEC, is 2-1 since his move to the UFC. After opening his promotional run with a decision victory over Eddie Wineland, he met Cruz and suffered a title loss at UFC 132. (Faber won their first meeting back in 2007 at WEC 26.) However, in a title eliminator at UFC 139, he choked out former WEC champ Brian Bowles to get another shot at the belt.
It now comes against Barao, who has a three-fight win streak in the UFC. He also holds a record virtually unblemished since his professional debut in 2005; after a defeat in that debut, he's undefeated (28-0 with one no-contest) over his past 29 fights. Barao most recently outpointed Scott Jorgensen at UFC 143, which built on another key win over Brad Pickett at UFC 138.
Cruz is the only fighter to hold a bantamweight title in the UFC, which adopted the weight class in 2011. The Faber vs. Barao winner will become the second.
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