Yahoo Sports Renan Barao Returns to Bantamweight at UFC 214
Renan Barao‘s featherweight experiment is over, at leasts for now. The former UFC bantamweight champion will return to 135 pounds at UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, Calif. He will square off against Aljamain Sterling.
Barao (34-4, 1NC) moved up to featherweight two bouts ago, but has had mixed results. He lost to Jeremy Stephens in May of last year, but rebounded with a victory over Phillipe Nover in September.
Now, he'll move back to the bantamweight class, where he wouldn't be too far off from a title shot if he can string together a couple of victories.
At UFC 214, Barao will square off with Sterling (13-2), who currently occupies the No. 8 slot in the division. Sterling had rocketed to a 12-0 start to his career before losing back-to-back bouts to Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao. He rebounded against Augusto Mendes in his most recent bout, and a win over the likes of Barao would go a long way toward putting those losses in the rearview mirror.
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UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will put his belt on the line in a rematch against Jon Jones in the UFC 214 headliner at the Honda Center.
