Former UFC champ Renan Barao booked to return at Eagle FC 44 in January
Renan Barao has next fight set
Another former UFC champion will be competing on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s promotion, Eagle Fighting Championship card in Miami in January.
According to MMAFighting, Renan Barao will take on Horacio Gutierrez at Eagle FC 44 on January 28 in Miami, Florida, which serves as the US debut for Nurmagomedov’s promotion. The main event of the card sees Tyrone Spong take on Sergei Kharitonov, while Rashad Evans will also end his retirement to compete on the card.
Renan Barao (34-9 and one No Contest) is on a five-fight losing skid and has not fought since November of 2019 where he suffered a decision loss to Douglas Silva de Andrade on a UFC Fight Night card. Following the loss, he was released from the promotion. The Brazilian then signed a three-fight contract with Taura MMA and was expected to make his debut against Bobby Moffett, yet the card was canceled due to the pandemic and he ended up never fighting for the promotion. Barao was then scheduled to fight Tyson Duckworth at Premier FC 32 for the Premier FC Featherweight Championship but Duckworth pulled out of the fight as he didn’t make it to the event.
Barao was considered unbeatable for a long time until TJ Dillashaw knocked him out to end his reign as UFC bantamweight champion. In his career, he holds notable wins over Urijah Faber, twice, Eddie Wineland, Brad Pickett, and Mitch Gagnon among others.
Horacio Gutierrez (7-3) had a two-fight stint in the UFC in 2015 and 2016 where he lost a decision to Enrique Barzola and was knocked out by Teruto Ishihara. He earned his way into the promotion after competing on TUF Latin America 2 where he lost to Barzola in the finals. On the show, he defeated Daniel Salas and Polo Reyes. Since his UFC release, he has been competing for Combate Americas and is riding a four-fight winning streak.
