Two fighters who have no love loss for each other will meet on Saturday night at UFC 214, as Aljamain Sterling takes on Renan Barao. Sterling’s career appears to be on the way up, while Barao’s is on the way down, but Sterling is just a slight favorite to win this fight. These two have been in a war of words ever since this fight was changed from a bantamweight bout into a catchweight of 140 pounds. This fight is one of four on the FXX portion of the preliminary card, leading up to a five-fight main card that features Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones. Let’s look Sterling vs. Barao and UFC picks.
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Aljamain Sterling (13-2, 5-2 UFC)
Sterling won the first 12 fights of his career before suffering his first loss, as he was beaten by Bryan Caraway in May of last year. That was a split decision loss, as was his next defeat, a loss to Raphael Assuncao in January of this year. Sterling did bounce back to beat Augusto Mendes by unanimous decision in April.
Sterling agreed to fight Barao at the catchweight of 140 pounds if he got more money but the UFC said no. Sterling eventually agreed to the weight change and will take on Barao at UFC 214. “I want to fight him at the weight class that makes sense.” Sterling said recently to MMA Fighting, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking for money, to get paid and compensated for fighting up four pounds, which means he gets a little bit bigger. I get to get a little bit bigger, too, but I feel like cutting down to 136 is an advantage for me, because I can recover a lot better than he does.”
Renan Barao (34-4-1, 9-3 UFC)
Barao was 32-1-1 heading into a bantamweight title bout against T.J. Dillashaw in 2014. Barao lost that bout in what was a great fight and it has been pretty much all downhill for Barao since. He did beat Mitch Gagnon in 2014 but then lost a rematch to Dillashaw in 2015 and he lost to Jeremy Stephens in 2016. Barao did beat Philippe Nover last September.
Barao’s trainer Jair Lourenco said that this fight against Sterling almost didn’t happen when the weight change was announced. “We heard about this three weeks ago,” Lourenco told MMA Fighting. “At first, when I heard, I didn’t even tell Barao because he was focused on his training, but we thought it wouldn’t be a problem.” Lourenco told MMA Fighting,“ But when (UFC matchmaker) Sean Shelby offered Sterling a (140-pound catchweight), he asked for more money. We didn’t know if the fight was still on or if they were going to change the date or the opponent, but Sean said he would try to make the fight.”
Barao is very upset with Sterling for some of the comments he has made through social media. “Barao was pissed at Sterling, not at the commission, because he was saying he’d fight at any weight, but that’s not true,” Lourenco said. “He was asking for more money.”
UFC Picks
One thing we definitely know about this fight is that it shouldn’t lack for action, as both fighters are going to be out to end it quickly. I think Sterling is faster than Barao but he doesn’t have as much experience. I would lean slightly to Barao in this fight but I think the better option is to take the rounds to go under the total.
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UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2 is set for Saturday, July 29 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The five-fight main card on pay-per-view features a bout between current light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones. There are also seven fights on the preliminary card, with four on FXX and three on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (Pay-per-View)
Jon Jones -255 vs. Daniel Cormier
Tyron Woodley -200 vs. Demian Maia
Cristiane Justino -1200 vs. Tonya Evinger
Robbie Lawler -160 vs. Donald Cerrone
Jimi Manuwa -215 vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Preliminary Card (FXX)
Ricardo Lamas -120 vs. Jason Knight
Aljamain Sterling -140 vs. Renan Barao
Renato Moicano -140 vs. Brian Ortega
Andre Fili -335 vs. Calvin Kattar
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Alexandra Albu -145 vs. Kaillin Curran
Jarred Brooks -165 vs. Eric Shelton
Drew Dober -285 vs. Josh Burkman
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