UFC 149 results: Renan Barao dominates Urijah Faber, wins interim title

By Matt Erickson

CALGARY – The UFC has another Brazilian champion.
It’s an interim title, but a title nonetheless. Renan Barao dominated Urijah Faber for five rounds on Saturday to win the UFC’s interim bantamweight belt, which was up for grabs with champion Dominick Cruz on the shelf following knee surgery. Barao cruised to win a unanimous decision with scores of 49-46, 50-45 and 49-46.
The interim bantamweight title fight served as the main event of Saturday’s UFC 149 event at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.
Barao joins Nova Uniao teammate Jose Aldo, the UFC’s featherweight champ; middleweight champ Anderson Silva; and heavyweight champ Junior Dos Santos as current UFC champions from Brazil.
It was apparent early in the five-round title fight that Barao’s strategy was similar to that of Aldo’s when he fought Faber in the WEC – do damage to Faber with leg kicks. And though Barao didn’t do nearly the damage to Faber that Aldo did in April 2010, it still was a game plan that Faber could find little answer for.
Barao was able to land significant strikes in each round, sometimes with highlight-reel potential behind them. And though Faber never was in true danger, he found it hard to get inside on Barao and do any real damage himself.
Faber didn’t attempt a full-fledged takedown until midway through the third round, but he couldn’t land it. And though he was able to score some points with his counter-strikes, he never was able to get any real momentum going offensively.
“I knew he was good at keeping distance, and he was able to keep his kicks from pretty far out,” Faber said. “I knew he was tough. He hurt me pretty early with a knee to the rib, and I think I might have a broken rib. It was nothing like Aldo. Aldo really took my leg apart. I felt (Barao’s) kicks for sure, but it wasn’t the same thing.”
Barao jumped up and down and ran across the octagon shouting after the scores were read, then rubbed the interim belt as UFC president Dana White put it around his waist.
“I came very well prepared for everything,” Barao said through his translator. “I knew Faber was a great athlete and a great fighter. But I prepared myself very well, and that was the result. My coaches told me to keep [kicking the legs], but it was not only that.”
Barao (29-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) had his amazing unbeaten streak extended to 30 fights with 29 wins and a no contest over that stretch. Faber (26-6 MMA, 2-2 UFC) again goes back to the drawing board, losing for the fifth straight time in a title fight – three featherweight title losses in the WEC and two bantamweight title losses in the UFC.

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Urijah Faber's positivity can't hurt in UFC 149 bantamweight title bout against Renan Barão

by Kevin Iole

Urijah Faber is the Norman Vincent Peale of mixed martial arts. Nobody puts the power of positive thinking to better, or more frequent, use than the UFC's bantamweight star.
Talk to Faber for any length of time and you'll hear the same phrases repeated incessantly: "I believe," "I can," "I will," and "I'm not worried."
Urijah Faber's positive attitude has a lot to do with his run of success. (Getty Images)Peale once wrote, "People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success."
It's a phrase that Faber, a former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion, lives by.
He'll fight highly regarded Renan Barão for the interim bantamweight title Saturday in the main event of UFC 149 at the Scotiabank Saddledome and, typically, he expressed little concern about either the possibility of losing or the pressure to perform.
Barão is on an 18-fight winning streak, a 31-fight unbeaten streak and is regarded as one of the best finishers in the sport. Faber, though, has a ready answer when confronted with the problems Barão presents.
"He hasn't faced me yet," Faber says, chuckling. "He's done all these things to other guys, but he hasn't fought me. He's human like anyone else."
The walls in Faber's bedroom in his Sacramento, Calif., home are dotted with goals and motivational quotes. His primary goal now is, once again, to have a championship belt strapped around his waist.
It's been 3½ years since Faber held a world title, yet he's remained at the top of his class in terms of opportunity and performance.
He was set to meet arch rival Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title at UFC 148 on July 7 in Las Vegas after coaching opposite Cruz on "The Ultimate Fighter Live." But Cruz tore up his knee and could be out for more than a year.
As a result, Faber was pitted against Barão for the interim belt. Though many believe an interim belt is meaningless, Faber is not among that group.
As he would say, when he wins Saturday he won't feel like a phony champion. He lost an excruciatingly close decision to Cruz for the belt at UFC 132 a year ago that evened the series between them at a win apiece. Faber submitted Cruz in 2007.
"I basically go out there and I think that when I beat Renan Barão, I'll be the best fighter in the world," Faber said. "I feel Dominick and I had a super close fight last time. He got the nod from the judges, but I don't feel like he beat me up. I feel I definitely did some damage to him.
"It was a close fight, but I felt walking away, as a man, I handled business. I'll feel like the champion, for sure, but I definitely want the opportunity to make sure that's the case."
Faber has always sought the best opposition he can face, which has earned him the everlasting respect of UFC president Dana White.
When White was going through the process of choosing a replacement opponent for Cruz, there was no doubt where Faber stood.
Barão was the guy with the record and the reputation. And while several other names were bandied about, Faber was hopeful White would choose Barão.
"The guy is 30-1, [and] he's a tough guy; he's a very, very tough fighter," White said of Barão. "And Urijah Faber who went through that whole season of The Ultimate Fighter to fight Cruz, you know absolutely, 100 percent, [he] not only accepted the fight with Renan Barão, but before it was even announced said, 'I hope it's Renan Barão.' "
Faber's belief in his ability is so absolute that he won't accept less than the best opposition. Eight of his last 10 opponents were either WEC or UFC world champions.
It can be a daunting task, getting no break from the stream of top contenders, but it's why Faber is far and away the biggest star among the lighter weight fighters in the sport.
He's been beaten by Cruz, the bantamweight champion, and Jose Aldo, the featherweight champion, but his star shines much brighter than either of theirs.
"My goal is to be successful as a fighter, as a businessman and as a person, and I work on that all the time," he said. "There's no reason to worry when you know you've done everything you need to do to reach a goal. I'm confident, I believe in myself, because I know I have prepared and done what I need to do to reach my goals."
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Roach: Ariza’s absence not a factor in Khan’s KO loss to Garcia

by Lem Satterfield


Five-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach says the absence of strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza for only the second time in Amir Khan’s past 10 fights was not among the reasons that the former titleholder was knocked out in the fourth round by Danny Garcia in last Saturday night’s HBO-televised bout.
Garcia’s triumph added Khan’s WBA junior welterweight belt as well as the division’s RING championship to the WBC crown he already owned, this, after referee Kenny Bayless asked Khan if he still could continue before waving an end to the fight at 2 minutes, 28 seconds following the third knockdown — the second of the fourth round.
During an interview with RingTV.com, Bayless said that among the reasons was the fact that “in my opinion, Amir’s leg’s were shot, and his balance was off.”
Ariza, who has been replaced by Ruben Tabares, could not be reached for commment. But during an interview with RingTV.com nearly a year ago to the day, Ariza said that the strengthening of the legs is important in supporting the neck.
“I don’t think that [Ariza's absence was a factor.] The new strength coach is a hurdler,” said Roach, who has denied that Khan has specifically expressed the desire to end their association, contrary to reports.
“And I don’t think that Amir’s legs gave out in three rounds. I thought that the new guy did a very good job. But Ariza is very good at what he does also.”
In the past, Ariza contended that it was the strength in Khan’s legs that facilitated his survival through the treacherous 10th round of his unanimous decision victory over Marcos Maidana in December of 2010.

“When he was hurt by Marcos Maidana, I told Freddie that all we needed was about 15 seconds and that he would come right back. I think that the biggest misconception is that theory about the chin, and this is just a theory of mine, and that is that the strength of the chin has to do with something in the neck or the jaw muscles or things like that. But really, when you get hit, what’s the first thing that goes? The legs. So, so much of my work that I do for these fighters is that I concentrate on the legs,” said Ariza.
“So the drills, the balancing, the positions I put them in where the legs are stable when you’re completely fatigued, I think that that was the key element for Amir against Marcos Maidana. I knew that once Amir was able to get a few seconds in, moving around, that his legs would find their stability because they had been there before. Amir has been there where he feels like they’re not under him and things like that. So these are things that we’ve done before, so it was nothing new for him to feel like that and to recover from it.”
Khan began working with Roach and Ariza following his 54-second knockout loss to Breidis Prescott as a lightweight in Sept. of 2008.
From there, Khan won eight straight fights, four of them by knockout, and earned two title belts. That stretch also included knockouts of New Yorkers Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi, as well as victories over former beltholders Maidana, Marco Antonio Barrera and Andreas Kotelnik.
The loss to Garcia was the second in a row for Khan, whose winning streak under Roach ended with December’s controversial split-decision loss to Lamont Peterson.

Ariza was absent from Khan’s corner just one other time during the winning spree — that being Khan’s six-round, technical decision victory over Paul McCloskey in April of last year — but returned for Khan’s fifth-round stoppage of Judah.
Khan also shares Roach with eight-division titlewinner Manny Pacquiao and WBC middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., whose respective training regimens took place in preparation for title bouts they participated in last month.
First into the ring was Pacquiao, who dropped a controversial split-decision to then-WBO junior welterweight titleholder Tim Bradley that dethroned him as WBO welterweight beltholder on June 9. A week later on June 16, Chavez Jr. scored an impressive seventh-round knockout victory over southpaw challenger Andy Lee.
Roach said Khan chose to end his relationship during a stretch when Ariza left the Philippines, where Khan was training alongside Pacquiao, to be with Chavez Jr.
“Alex left Amir high and dry in the Philippines, and we had to make a choice. We had to go with someone else, and Ruben was available and Ruben did very well,” said Roach.
“He put Amir on a very, very good diet, Amir made weight very easily. He made weight four days before the fight. I thought that Ruben did a very good job.”

Chavez Jr. will be back in the ring on Sept. 15 for a defense against RING champion Sergio Martinez. Pacquiao has a targeted return date of Nov. 10, perhaps against Bradley or for a fourth bout opposite Juan Manuel Marquez, with whom Pacquiao has battled through a draw, as well as split- and majority decision victories, respectively.
Roach said that he expects Khan to return to the ring in December, adding that he would like to get a rematch with Garcia. Roach also said that he recently met with Khan and the fighter’s father, Shah Khan, regarding how to navigate the time spent working with Chavez Jr., Pacquiao and Khan in the future.
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Photo by Naoki Fukuda
Photo by Tom Hogan, Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions
Photo by Naoki Fukuda
Photo by Tom Hogan, Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

Alvaraz and Lopez focus on each other

by Doug Fischer

LOS ANGELES – For many who follow the boxing industry closely the “big fight” on Sept. 15 isn’t the Julio Cesar Chavez-Sergio Martinez middleweight championship or the junior middleweight title bout between popular beltholder Saul Alvarez and the sport’s latest “Rocky” story, Josesito Lopez, but rather the battle between the promoters and networks who are putting the opposing shows on in the same city and at roughly the same time.
Chavez-Martinez headlines an HBO Pay Per View show from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Sept. 15. Alvarez-Lopez headlines a Showtime-televised event from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on the same night.
Chavez-Martinez is a Top Rank promotion. Golden Boy Promotions is putting on Alvarez-Lopez. Even casual boxing fans know these two companies don’t get along. Hardcore fans knew neither promotional firm would back off from staging an event during the coveted Mexican Independence Day weekend – which has hosted a major Mexican- or Mexican American-headlined PPV event since Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya was still fighting for Top Rank.
Both companies think they promote the bigger Mexican star and put on better fight cards, so both went forward with their Sept. 15 plans, putting hardcore fans and the boxing media in the awkward and annoying position of having to choose which show to watch or cover.
Top Rank has the more significant headlining matchup, a 160-pound fight that fans believe will be competitive. Golden Boy had lined up three competitive opponents for the popular Alvarez, who holds the WBC 154-pound title, but one by one those viable pay-per-view B-sides were eliminated. Paul Williams, the first choice, had his career tragically ended by a debilitating motorcycle accident. James Kirkland, who suffered a shoulder injury in his last fight, didn’t feel he would be ready to fight on Sept. 15 and wanted more money to take the risk. Victor Ortiz was upset by Lopez on June 23.
Golden Boy, who was just as shocked as most fans were when the late sub (for Andre Berto) broke Ortiz’s jaw to earn a ninth-round TKO, figured the rugged 27-year-old slugger from Riverside, Calif., was dangerous enough to make for a Showtime-level opponent for “Canelo.”
However, many hardcore fans and members of the media dismiss the matchup. They say Lopez, who has fought most of his career at 140 pounds, doesn’t belong at junior middleweight or in the ring with Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 knockouts).
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer says he’s heard that opinion before.
“Some people say Josesito Lopez is too small to fight Saul Alvarez,” Schaefer said during a public press conference at Placita Olvera-Father Sera Park on Tuesday. “These are the same people who gave him no chance against Victor Ortiz.
“These are the same people who said Danny Garcia could not beat Amir Khan. This is boxing, and in boxing you never know.”
De La Hoya also chimed in with the “Ya-just-never-know” line:
“They said Manny Pacquiao was too small to fight me and look what happened. He destroyed me.”
For the skeptics who refuse to consider Alvarez-Lopez a competitive fight, Golden Boy has sweetened the Showtime offering with two “legitimate” matchups: a featherweight title bout between WBC beltholder Jhonny Gonzalez and former 122-pound titleholder Daniel Ponce de Leon and a surefire welterweight shootout between sluggers Marcos Maidana and Jesus Soto Karass.
The aggressive styles of the headline fighters and ridiculously high KO percentages of Gonzalez (52-7, 45 KOs), De Leon (43-4, 35 KOs) and Maidana (31-3, 28 KOs) have led Golden Boy to christen this event “Knockout Kings” and the promotional company is encouraging the fighters to live up to the name.
De La Hoya announced during Tuesday’s presser that fans watching the Showtime broadcast at home can vote on the ‘KO of the Night’ and the fighter who scored it will earn a $100,000 bonus.
The promise of extra cash will no doubt entice the participants of the card to give their all once in the ring, but will that promise of action be enough to sway fans to tune into Showtime during the Chavez-Martinez pay-per-view broadcast?
This question was posed to Alvarez.
“I’m not worried at all about sharing the night with Chavez,” Alvarez said through Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez. “He’s got his date and I’ve got mine. I’m only worried about my promotion.
“I don’t think much about ratings. I have my followers and (Chavez) has his. I know my fans will come out to support me. The only thing I worry about is training. I let my team and Golden Boy Promotions select my opponent.
“I’m motivated to fight Lopez because I know that he earned a title shot with his last fight.”
Alvarez promises that his fans won’t be treated to any rude surprises as Ortiz’s fans were recently.
“The problem with Ortiz was that he was overconfident,” he said. “I don’t do that. I know that I have to approach (Lopez) with the same respect that I would have had for Williams or Kirkland or Ortiz.”
Lopez (30-4, 18 KOs) says Alvarez would be wise to do that. The near 6-foot contender told RingTV’s Dominic Verdin that he walks around at middleweight and will likely feel stronger than ever not having to sweat off his customary 20 pounds during camp.
Lopez also believes that his vaunted chin, which was able to absorb the best shots that Ortiz could deliver, will hold out against the red-headed Mexican’s heavy hands.
“I always spar with much bigger guys,” he said. “I’m used to getting hit by middleweights, light heavyweights, even heavyweights. So I don’t think about whether I can take Canelo’s punch.
“The ability to take a punch has a lot to do with conditioning. If you’re not in great shape you’ll feel the punch more.”
Lopez, who hasn’t had time to get out of shape since the Ortiz fight, says he’ll be in the best condition of his career for Alvarez.
The result may or may not be another upset but Lopez promises an entertaining main event.
“If you’ve ever seen me fight and you’ve seen him fight you know it’s going to be a good fight,” he said. “We leave everything in the ring.”

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The divergent paths of Khan, Garcia

The divergent paths of Khan, Garcia
by Kieran Mulvaney

LAS VEGAS -- There had been plenty of trash-talking in the week before Amir Khan and Danny Garcia stepped into the ring at the Mandalay Bay on Saturday night, much of it between Khan and Garcia's father Angel. Khan wasn't present at the postfight press conference, but Angel was, and he wasn't afraid to keep fighting the war of words even as his foe nursed his wounds at the hospital
"Rematch?!" he exclaimed when it was suggested that maybe his son might face Khan again following Garcia's explosive fourth-round victory. "Why would we fight him again?" After comparing him to an old pair of tennis shoes, Angel spat that Khan was "old news. He's an ex-champion. He's a three-time ex-champion."
That last comment in particular cut to the quick. Khan could excuse his first loss, a shocking first-round KO defeat to Breidis Prescott: Khan was young, he was raw, and he had subsequently improved under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach. His second defeat, last December to Lamont Peterson, similarly came with a set of asterisks and, given Peterson's subsequent positive test for synthetic testosterone, may yet be expunged from the record books.
This one, however, was different. Despite a half-hearted suggestion from Khan in the immediate aftermath that perhaps referee Kenny Bayless had been premature in halting the contest, there could be no doubt. This was a fight that Khan had had in his grasp, that he was winning through two and two-thirds rounds, his hand speed and combination punching making him seem a class apart from his young opponent.
But Garcia never lost his composure, and kept coming forward behind a tight defense. And when Khan presented him with a chance, he took it, landing an explosive left hook that detonated on Khan's jaw. Although the bout officially lasted another round, it was effectively over as a contest right then; as Roach admitted afterward, Khan never really recovered from that blow.
The fight highlighted everything that is good and bad about Khan: On the good side, his immense physical gifts and his astonishing heart, which, combined with his flaws, make for consistently exciting fights, win or lose; on the bad, the questions that arose anew about his chin, which it seems will always be a weakness, wherever he goes from here.
For Danny Garcia, the immediate future is bright. With victories over Erik Morales and now Khan, he has, as they say, arrived. Khan arrived, at least as an attraction and as a star, some years ago. The question has been when he would move on and take the next step to a higher level among the elites. Now that question is not so much when, but if. And his absence in the face of Angel Garcia's taunts served only to underline that it is a question to which we almost certainly now know the answer.
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