Barao

By FCF Staff

UFC 148 will feature a bantamweight match-up between two top contenders, as Renan Barao will now reportedly fight Ivan Menjivar on the July 7^th card. Barao had been scheduled to fight Jeff Hougland at the May 15^th UFC on FUEL 3 card; however, Yves Jabouin has stepped in for the Brazilian.

The shuffle comes as a result of an injury to Mike Easton, who had originally been scheduled to fight Jabouin. The news was first reported by Sportsnet commentator Joe Ferraro, and Barao has confirmed the switch via his Twitter account.

The UFC has not made any announcement regarding the reported changes.

Barao (28-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Scott Jorgensen in February, which was the bantamweight’s fifth straight win since signing with Zuffa.

Menjivar (24-8) last competed in February and tapped out John Albert to extend his win streak to three.

UFC 148 will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will feature a bantamweight bout between champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber in the main event.

Jabouin (17-7) has won back-to-back bouts over Ian Loveland and most recently Walel Watson, after being submitted by Pablo Garza last April.

Hougland (10-4) made his Octagon debut last July and worked his way to a unanimous decision win over Donny Walker.

The UFC on FUEL 3 card will take place at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia, and will be headlined by featherweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung.