Cole Escovedo (17-6), 0-0 UFC) opens the UFC 130 card against former WEC fighter Renan do Nascimento Mota Pegado, better known as Renan Barao (25-1, 0-0 UFC), in a bantamweight bout at UFC 130. A re-shuffling of the card after an injury to Brad Pickett led to this matchup, as Barao was originally scheduled to meet Demetrious Johnson. This fight will be the opening fight on the Facebook broadcast, which will begin at approximately 6:45 EST/3:45 PST.

How do these two stack up?

Escovedo: 29 years old | 5'7" | 69" reach
Barao: 24 years old | 5'7" | 66" reach

What have these two done lately?

Escovedo: W - Steven Siler (SUB) | L - Michihiro Omigawa (SUB) | L - Michael McDonald (KO)
Barao: W - Chris Cariaso (SUB) | W - Anthony Leone (SUB) | W - Sergio Rodrigues (UD)

How did these two get here?

Escovedo became the first WEC featherweight champion way back in 2002, and eventually lost it to Urijah Faber in 2006 (After defending it once in fours years). He fought once in the IFL after he dropped the title, where he got knocked out by Urijah Faber. After 2 1/2 years out of the fight game, he returned in 2009 at bantamweight and won the Palace Fighting Championships BW title, handing fellow UFC 130 fighter Michael McDonald his only defeat to date. He has gone 6-1 at BW so far, his only loss coming in a return match with McDonald.

Renan Barao currently holds one of the longest winning streaks in MMA. After dropping his debut fight, he's run off 25 wins in a row, including 18 by stoppage. He made his WEC debut last year in a catchweight fight at 142 pounds and submitted Anthony Leone in the third round. His next outing was against Chris Cariaso at WEC 53, where he won by submission in under 4 minutes.

Why should you care?

Barao is one of the brightest prospects at bantamweight, and it should be a pretty good jiu-jitsu battle.

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