• UFC 149

Barao untouchable as lame Lombard is booed

Renan Barao sent out the type of message that simply cannot be overlooked by Dominick Cruz on Saturday night, dominating Urijah Faber to become the UFC interim bantamweight champion at UFC 149.

Facing a man whom Cruz knows only too well, Barao kept Faber on a piece of string all night, unloading over 300 strikes - many of which were significant - in a display that never once allowed Faber to look close to turning things in his favour.

Two judges rendered a 49-46 score in the Brazilian's favour, while the other more accurately awarded a 50-45 on a night that rubber-stamped Barao as a bantamweight beast.

Reigning 135lb champ Cruz has faced Faber twice before, losing the first in naive fashion by submission, before taking the second via a close decision.

There was nothing close about Barao's win, and that might just be a worry to Cruz.

Opening up with a series of flash kicks, ranging from front kicks to spinning wheel kicks, Barao introduced Faber to his power, before taking a leaf out of Jose Aldo's book. Copying his Nova Uniao team-mate's blueprint, Barao slammed Faber with leg kicks, noticeably slowing the former WEC king.

Faber's only real success came with the odd right hand, but he simply could not get on the inside all night, and any takedown attempts were easily stuffed by the bigger Brazilian.

By round five it was showboat time for Barao, who lent on a bit of old school Gracie style in his striking stance, slamming Faber with more hard shots to leave nobody in doubt ahead of the judges' decision.

Elsewhere, the overhyped debut of Hector Lombard in the UFC fell flat as he lost a split decision to Tim Boetsch. Lombard showed minimal footwork and failed to force the pace all night. Boetsch barely showed much offence either but, hampered by a broken foot, he still remained active enough to embarrass the booed Lombard.

UFC 149 results:
Renan Barao bt Urijah Faber via unanimous decision
Tim Boetsch bt Hector Lombard via split decision
Cheick Kongo bt Shawn Jordan via unanimous decision
James Head bt Brian Ebersole via split decision
Matt Riddle bt Chris Clements via submission (arm triangle) at 1.25 of round three
Nick Ring bt Court McGee via unanimous decision
Francisco Rivera bt Roland Delorme via KO at 4.19 of round one
Ryan Jimmo bt Anthony Perosh via KO at 0.07 of round one
Bryan Caraway bt Mitch Gagnon via submission (rear naked choke) at 1.39 of round three
Antonio Carvalho bt Daniel Pineda via KO at 1.11 of round one
Anton Kuivanen bt Mitch Clarke via split decision

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