Las Vegas Sun

Currently: 70° | Complete forecast |

UFC 148 in Las Vegas loses title fight between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao

Injuries take their toll again on the UFC, as Jose Aldo’s cancelation affects schedule

UFC 132

Justin M. Bowen

Urijah Faber looks away as the decision is announced after the main event bout at UFC 132 against Dominick Cruz during UFC 132 Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Cruz won by unanimous decision.

Las Vegas' next UFC card lost a championship bout Saturday night.

The promotion moved UFC 148's scheduled co-main event, an interim bantamweight title fight between Urijah Faber and Renan Barao, back two weeks. Faber vs. Barao will now headline UFC 149 on July 21 in Calgary, Alberta.

The shift became necessary after UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo suffered an injury in training and had to pull out of a bout against Erik Koch, which was supposed to headline UFC 149. The UFC released the news in a statement.

Aldo's injury continues a rough stretch of luck for the world's largest mixed martial arts promotion. Faber was originally supposed to renew his rivalry with champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 148. But Cruz tore his ACL on the set of "The Ultimate Fighter Live" to wreck those plans.

The main event of UFC on Fox 4 was also scratched this week when Brian Stann separated his shoulder in training. Stann's opponent, Hector Lombard, will now fight in Calgary against Tim Boetsch, who lost scheduled foe Michael Bisping to an injury. A light heavyweight bout between former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Brandon Vera fills in as the main event for UFC on Fox 4 on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.

Despite recent rumors to the contrary, injuries have not affected UFC 148's middleweight championship main event. The most anticipated rematch in UFC history, Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II, is still on. UFC 148 takes place July 7 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy