With an injury to Chris Weidman delaying his fight with Lyoto Machida from UFC 173 to UFC 175, a new fight was needed to headline UFC’s Memorial day card. The organization has found that headliner, as bantamweight titleholder Renan Barao will headline the May 24th card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas against top contender TJ Dillashaw.
The 27-year-old Brazilian Barao (34-1, 1 NC) is the owner of a remarkable 35 fight unbeaten streak and a 22 fight winning streak. He won the interim bantamweight crown in 2012, when Dominick Cruz was out injured. Barao was elevated to undisputed champion in January, and he didn’t skip a beat, halting Dillashaw’s teammate, Urijah Faber, in a single round at UFC 169 in February. He is considered one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world, and currently sits third in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.
Dillashaw (10-2-0) is the number five ranked bantamweight in the UFC. The 28-year-old Dillashaw was a TUF 14 finalist and has won five of his last six fights. His most recent win was a unanimous decision over Mike Easton in January.
Dillashaw was originally scheduled to fight Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 173. Mizugaki will now fight Francisco Rivera in an undercard matchup.
Due to the fact that there are now 13 matches on the UFC 173 card, the scheduled Yves Edwards and Piotr Hallmann fight has been pushed back to UFC Fight Night 43.
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos takes on up and coming contender Stipe Miocic in the co-main event at UFC 173.
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