May 9, 2012 – As you may or may not have heard b now, the UFC 148 rubber match between The Ultimate Fighter: LIVE coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber is off after the bantamweight champion (Cruz) suffered a severe knee injury (ACL) in training that will keep him out of action for an estimated nine months.
According to UFC President Dana White, Cruz will finish out the season as TUF coach despite his inability to fight in the culminating event. As for his opposite, Faber won’t get a chance to repay Dominick for all the jibs he’s taken from him all season but he will get a chance to fight for the interim version of the 135 lbs. title come July 7th at the at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“What’s going to happen is Urijah Faber is going to fight still,” said White to UFC.com. “He is going to fight on the same card. Now I’m looking for the right opponent who will fight Faber.”
Who should fight Faber for the interim bantamweight title?
Looking at the rankings, a few clear contenders show up near the top that could offer an intriguing possibility to be pit opposite “The California Kid” at UFC 148. Let’s look at a few of them in further detail.
Renan Barão
A native of Natal, Brazil, the exciting Nova União black belt currently sports one of the longest unbeaten streaks in MMA with 29 straight fights without a loss. He’s won five straight under the Zuffa banner including three straight in the UFC with his two most recent wins being impressive victories over perenial top-10 135’ers in Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett. Barão has been expected to face Ivan Menjivar on the UFC 148 card in what may have been a #1 contender match so its possible that he gets moved up here instead.
Ivan Menjivar
Speaking of Ivan Menjivar, the longtime veteran should also be considered a candidate after winning three straight bouts in the UFC, including a ‘submission of the night’ victory over John Albert in his last bout on FUEL this past February. The 29 year old Canadian has already had a lengthy career which includes a DQ loss to Faber way back in 2006 so a rematch between the two could be an outside possibility.
Michael McDonald
Another fighter that has to be considered is exciting young prodigy Michael McDonald. Out of all three listed so far, “Mayday” has perhaps the most visible win of them all with his blistering first round knockout of former champ Miguel Torres just a few weeks ago at UFC 145. At just 21 years old, Michael has a long ways to go in his career and hasn’t seemed to be in a hurry to chase belts but he could be pushed directly into the spotlight given the circumstances.
The Best of the Rest
Aside from these three names, the UFC bantamweight division also boasts the likes of guys like Brian Bowles, Scott Jorgensen, Brad Pickett, and more that would all be more than willing to step up if given the opportunity.
Who do you think would make the best fight for Urijah Faber? Will it be one of the three mentioned above? If so, do any of them have what it takes to be a champion NOW or will Urijah once again lay claim to the title until “The Dominator” makes his return?
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