Renan Barao swarmed on Urijah Faber to get the first-round stoppage and defend his UFC bantamweight title earlier today while in a featherweight title fight, Jose Aldo dominated Ricardo Lamas to defend his title at UFC 169.
The event was held at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, USA with the main event being show on Mainevent Pay-Per-View.
Faber who took the fight on three weeks notice, was rocked early by a big right and as he looked to regain his composure was swarmed with more wild punches from the champ. A right sent Faber to the canvas again and Faber quickly looked for the single leg. Barao threw a barrage of hammer fists, with the majority being blocked by Faber however referee Herb Dean had seen enough and ended, 3:42 into the first round. Faber immediately protested the stoppage to the referee. Controversial ending however result certainly looked to be going in Barao’s favour, sooner or later. With the win, Barao moves his professional record to 32-1, 1 no-contest (UFC 7-0). It was Faber’s third loss in a title fight within the UFC and no doubt will be a long road back should the 34 year-old want another chance.
In the co-main event, UFC champion Jose Aldo defended his featherweight title with a fairly easy win over challenger, 31 year-old Ricardo Lamas. Aldo attached with constant powerful leg-kicks as Lamas struggled to find his way into the fight. Wasn’t until late in the fight that Lamas found himself in the top position where he was able to drop some stirkes on the champion. All three judges awarded Aldo the decision who now moves his professional record to 24-1 (UFC 6-0).
In a heavyweight clash Frank Mir was completely outclassed by a more conditioned Alistair Overeem. The onslaught started from the opening bell as Overeem dropped the former champion with strikes early. The next two rounds were not as dominant as the first round, however the final fight metric statistics proved how dominant it was with Overeem landing 139 of 157, while Mir landed 3 of 23. The win was well needed for Overeem who lost his last two outings in the Octagon. He didn’t waste time in calling out the retired Brock Lesnar, who Overeem also defeated back in 2011.
Earlier in the main card, Ali Bagautinov won a unanimous decision against John Linekar. Bagautinov quickly took the fight to the ground where he was able to control, however Linekar came back in the second round as he made it a brawl. Another couple of takedowns and Bagautinov controlling the fight there, won him the fight with all three judges scoring it 29-28 to Bagautinov.
After a lacklustre preliminary card, the main card started with a bang as Abel Trujillo came back to knock-out Jamie Varner in an entertaining fight. Varner took the back of his opponent in the first round where he looked to finish the fight with a north-south choke. Trujillo survived and in the second both fighters came out swinging. Varner rocked Trujillo with a combination and as Trujillo looked to recover, he fired back with a crushing right hand that knocked out Varner cold. The win came 2:32 into round two.
Main Card (Mainevent PPV):
- Renan Barao def Urijah Faber via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 3:42
- Jose Aldo def Ricardo Lamas via Decision (Unanimous)
- Alistair Overeem def Frank Mir via Decision (Unanimous)
- Ali Bagautinov def John Lineker via Decision (Unanimous)
- Abel Trujillo def Jamie Varner via KO (Punch), Rd 2, 2:32
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV):
- Alan Patrick Silva Alves def John Makdessi via Decision (Unanimous)
- Chris Cariaso def Danny Martinez via Decision (Unanimous)
- Nick Catone def Tom Watson via Decision (Unanimous)
- Al Iaquinta def Kevin Lee via Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass):
- Clint Hester def Andy Enz via Decision (Unanimous)
- Rashid Magomedov def Tony Martin via Decision (Unanimous)
- Neil Magny def Gasan Umalatov via Decision (Unanimous)
