Coming from Calgary, Canada, UFC 149 has been a much-maligned show, as injury after injury changed much of the fight card. However, while some fans and media members are still upset about the current makeup of this show, the fact remains that the main event pits two high energy fighters against one another to see who will fill in as the UFC’s bantamweight champion until Dominick Cruz makes his return in 2013. Urijah Faber and Renan Pegado will battle for an interim championship, and the opportunity to carve out their own spots while the champion is away.
Once this bout was announced, fans and experts alike began to predict that this fight would be the true coming out party for the Brazilian fighter known as “Barao.” The 25 year-old fighter has enjoyed a seven-year undefeated streak which has seen him accumulate 28 wins. In what is considered the longest current winning streak in mixed martial arts, Pegado has scored 13 submissions, and six wins by knockout. Though the level of competition that he was fighting before he joined Zuffa employ in 2010 was not comparable to the top-tier talent that their promotions have been known to bring together, it is still impressive that he has been able to put together such a streak.
Urijah Faber continually touts the fact that “Barao” hasn’t been competing against fighters with his resume, and that type of experience is an advantage that he will bring to the Octagon on Saturday. The former WEC featherweight champion has experienced a rebirth since moving down to the 135-pound division. At 26-5, Faber’s proven that he can be an ambassador for the sport outside of the cage while putting on winning shows once the door shuts.
Yet this bout is worth looking forward to because Pegado has been quite the mystery since he walked into the WEC. The Nova Uniao standout has continued to look impressive, so much so that Faber is going into this fight as the underdog.
Looking at Pegado, many people are ready to christen him the 135-pound version of Jose Aldo, and we all remember what Aldo did to Faber when they met for the 145-pound title in 2010. Pegado uses the same type of leg kicks while sticking and moving inside of the cage. Unlike his teammate, however, he is more prone to take the fight to the ground and use his submission skills to put the fight away. He has shown a diverse ground attack that includes victories by rear naked chokes, triangles, and other maneuvers. This will be an interesting situation to face for Faber, who has been known to take his opponents down, stay in the guard, and lay into them with devastating ground and pound.
To win this fight, Faber is going to have to be able to score takedowns and control the positioning of the bout without getting caught in a scramble that can lead to a tap out. He’s defeated Jiu Jitsu black belts in the past, and did so by using his wrestling to maintain dominant positions. Pegado will have a speed advantage, so it will be captivating to see whether Faber can catch him as he attacks with strikes while moving about the cage. If he can’t, then Faber is going to have a long night, as “Barao” will emulate Aldo and rack up points while dealing out damage with a variety of strikes.
Faber has quite the workload in front of him, but if there is one thing that the “California Kid” has shown during his run as the top star in the sport among the smaller fighters, it’s that he knows how to win on the big stage. In what is going to be a fight that remains at a blistering pace from start to finish, Urijah Faber vs. Renan Pegado has the potential to close out a PPV that has fallen out of the good graces of some MMA fans on a high note.
