UFC 169: Barao vs. Faber Round-by-Round Recap and Analysis

Renan Barao and Urijah Faber faced off once again—this time for the undisputed UFC Bantamweight Championship at UFC 169. 

While Barao had quietly demonstrated himself to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA, he made quite the bang against Faber, scoring an emphatic first-round knockout. The win is by far the biggest of Barao's career, while this loss is a devastating blow for Faber.

How, exactly, did this surprisingly short fight pan out, though? Find out right here!

Round 1

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The fight starts and Barao quickly starts asserting himself in the center of the cage. Faber grabs hold of a leg for a single, lets go and follows up with a quick one-two combination. 

Barao plods forward while Faber maintains his distance. Barao fakes a spin and Faber clearly respects it as he leaps away. Faber goes for a spinning move of his own, flops but escapes before taking any serious damage.

Barao maintains the center of the cage, throwing kicks and punches without much malice behind them. He goes for a leg kick but follows it with a devastating right cross that floors Faber. He follows it up with punches but Faber remarkably escapes.

Faber eats a another right that puts him on his stomach. Barao swarms on top of him and rains on Lesnar-style hammer fists. Faber covers up and doesn't seem to take much damage, but the ref pulls them apart and waves the fight to a close.

Whether or not the fight was premature is debatable, but this was by no means a bad stoppage. It is the third knockout loss of Faber's career.

Either way, this is a big, bright, impressive feather in Barao's cap.