The much heralded clash of Renan Barao and Urijah Faber proved to be something of an anti-climax as the latter was stopped with a first round technical knockout at UFC 169 on Saturday night.
Referee Herb Dean called a halt to the fight as Faber covered up on the ground at the 3:42 mark, with Faber immediately left wondering why Dean did not heed the thumbs up gesture he tried to give.
The bantamweight clash was the top billed bout on a frenetic night in New Jersey.
“It’s very frustrating. I’m one of the most durable guys in the world,” Faber said. “You get caught with punches. He told me to do something, so I gave him a thumbs up right before he stopped it. Herb’s a great referee … but I had some more fight in me.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Barao. He caught me with a clean punch. But I wasn’t out, and I’ll be back.”
Meanwhile, Abel Trujillo says he plans to take a couple of months off after knocking out Jamie Varner in stunning fashion.
http://youtu.be/whFnuU4rKoA
The first main bout of the night produced the best fight and KO of the entire card and lit up the Newark Prudential Center with a slug fest over two rounds.
Both fighters came out swinging with punches from the off, with Varner landing crisper hits than Trujillo looping blows.
Varner seemed to be on the road to victory as he landed a massive left hook on Trujillo’s jaw halfway through the second round, but didn’t reckon on the resilience of the 30-year-old from North Carolina.
Trujillo, mere moments after being tagged, knocked Varner clean out with an overhand right and as he fell face floor to the mat, Trujillo celebrated his second straight victory.
Varner, meanwhile, has lost three of his last four.
UFC 169 Full Results:
UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao def. Urijah Faber by TKO (punches) at 3:22 of Round One
UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo def. Ricardo Lamas by unanimous decision (49-46 x3)
Alistair Overeem def. Frank Mir by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Ali Bagautinov def. John Lineker by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Abel Trujillo def. Jamie Varner by KO (punch) at 2:32 of Round Two
Alan Patrick def. John Makdessi by unanimous decision: (29-28 x2, 30-27)
Chris Cariaso def. Danny Martinez by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Nick Catone def. Tom Watson by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 28-27)
Clint Hester def. Andy Enz by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
Rashid Magomedov def. Tony Martin by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Neil Magny def. Gasan Umalatov by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
