Renan Barao vs Eddie Wineland Planned For UFC 161 Main EventUFC Interim Bantamweight Champion Renan “Barao” Pegado will make the next defence of his title against hard-hitting challenger Eddie Wineland in the main event of UFC 161 on June 15th in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The championship bout was announced today following a report from ESPN.

Barao is coming off of an impressive fourth-round submission victory over rising star Michael “Mayday” McDonald at UFC on Fuel TV 7. He has not lost since his pro debut close to eight years ago. Wineland won both of his fights in 2012 against top ten-ranked opponents to earn the interim title shot.

Barao (30-1-0, 1 NC) earned back-to-back wins in the WEC before making his UFC Octagon debut in May 2011. He won his next three fights over formidable opponents including Brad “One Punch” Pickett and Scott “Young Guns” Jorgensen. When UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz sustained a knee injury, UFC officials matched Barao up against former WEC champion “The California Kid” Urijah Faber for the interim title this past July. Barao prevailed via Unanimous Decision and successfully retained the belt by submitting McDonald with an arm-triangle choke.

Wineland (20-8-1) was the first ever WEC Bantamweight Champion and he went on to post a 5-2 record in the promotion that included three knockout victories. Wineland’s UFC debut ended in a Unanimous Decision defeat against Faber and he subsequently dropped another decision to Faber’s teammate, current UFC flyweight title contender Joseph Benavidez. This past year, however, Wineland knocked out Jorgensen in June and edged out Pickett in December to get back in the title hunt. He now has a chance to claim the interim belt with his third straight victory.

UFC 161 takes place on June 15th at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The event features a pair of light heavyweight bouts, as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua faces Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira in a rematch from 2005 and Dan “Hendo” Henderson battles “Suga” Rashad Evans.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)