By Matt Molgaard
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

Urijah Faber will make another run at securing UFC gold on Saturday when he headlines UFC 149. Standing opposite him in the octagon will be Renan “Barao” Pegado, a Brazilian wrecking machine who’s gone on a 29 fight unbeaten streak. And while the contest for bantamweight interim gold is intriguing, there are actually a few interesting matchups decorating the undercard. Long praised knockout artist Hector Lombard will make his debut against the nearly unbreakable Tim Boetsch, and Cheick Kongo will return to action after suffering a TKO defeat at the hands of Mark Hunt earlier this year.

Injuries prevented this event from being the star it could potentially have been, but there are a few promising collisions that still clutter the pay-per-view card, especially if you’re a fan of the bantamweight and middleweight divisions. There’s major relevance behind both of the featured marquee bouts.

Urijah Faber vs. Renan “Barao” Pegado: This is an extremely difficult fight to predict. Urijah Faber has looked sharp with his boxing in recent outings, and he’s still a potent wrestler to deal with. He’s found his true comfort zone inside the UFC’s octagon, and that’s enabled him to put on some thrilling fights. Barao on the other hand just seems to pummel foes with complete disregard for human wellbeing. The guy will pound until an opening to finish presents itself, or the final bell sounds. Reverse isn’t a direction in which he likes to move, and his potent ground game and diversified striking skills make him a threat everywhere the fight goes.

I’d like to say that the longer this fight goes, the more it favors Faber, simply due to his otherworldly cardio, but on the other hand, if Faber enters the championship rounds behind on the score cards, that’s just not going to pay off. I think the biggest factor in this fight is the fact that Barao has done some extensive training with Jose Aldo, who just about kicked Faber’s legs clean off his body a few years back. Having some inside knowledge could be the big factor in this fight, and that’s where Pegado enters with a slight edge.

I won’t be stunned to see this fight end inside the distance, but that’s not what I personally believe will happen. I think Renan finds himself tested like never before, but ultimately picks up enough points with a slew of brutal leg kicks and punch combinations to exit the cage a champion.