Renan Barao wins UFC bantamweight title with win over Uriah Faber

The Brazilian extends his remarkable unbeaten streak with a unanimous points win over Faber to claim the title, as Hector Lombard has a night to forget on his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

Hector Lombard eats a kick from Tim Boetsch on his UFC debut in Calgary.
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CALGARY, CANADA // Renan Barao extended his remarkable mixed martial arts streak to 32 fights without defeat with a comprehensive points win over Uriah Faber to claim the Ultimate Fighting Championship's interim bantamweight title.

Faber - now 0-5 in his last five title shots - struggled to break through the distance the rangy Brazilian brought to the fight.

Afterwards Faber admitted one of the early kicks from Barão injured his ribs.

"I knew he was very good at keeping his distance, he has long punches," he said after the fight.

"I knew he was tough, but I was hoping for a better result."

Barão controlled the pace and landed far more significant blows to the former WEC champ, though the Calgary crowd were less impressed by the fight.

"I came well prepared," he said afterwards through a translator. "I knew Faber was a great athlete but I prepared my strategy very well."

Barão will now face the currently injured champion Dominic Cruz for the undisputed bantamweight title.

Meanwhile former Bellator champion Hector Lombard had a debut to forget after losing a split decision against Tim Boetsch.

The Cuban-born former Olympian had been tipped as a contender to face middleweight champion Anderson Silva should he impress in his first UFC fight.

But instead Lombard, unbeaten in 25 fights going into the bout, struggled to make an impact against Boetsch.

Despite scoring a brace of heavy takedowns against Boetsch, Lombard seemed unable to control the pace of the fight.

The result paves the way for Chris Weidman to face the long-reigning middleweight champion after his showing last week.

Cheick Kongo ground out a less-than-impressive unanimous points win over Shawn Jordan, while Brian Eberson - fighting on short notice - lost a split decision against James Head.

Chris Clements tapped to a choke after two minutes of the third round of his bout against Matt Riddle, while hometown fighter Nick Ring fought to an exhausting three-round unanimous decision against Court McGee.

And Ryan Jimmo scored a stunning seven second KO win over Australian fighter Anthony Perish on his debut, tying the record for quickest knockout in the UFC.

sports@thenational.ae

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