On Saturday the UFC returned to the UK for the first time since UFC On Fuel 5. With UFC On Fuel TV 7, they brought the first title fight to Great Britain since UFC 80 when B.J. Penn tried to make Joe Stevenson bleed out at UFC 80. In the Fuel 7 main event, Renan Barao made the first successful non-Heavyweight interim title defense in UFC history.
Barao found himself in trouble early in the fight. His challenger for the Bantamweight interim championship Michael McDonald rocked him in the first round with a series of strikes against the fence. However, Renan was able to recover by clinching up and made it through the round. After that, McDonald slowed while Barao took over. By the championship rounds McDonald had trouble finding a home for his counters and got frustrated.
Barao capitalized when "Mayday" failed on a trip attempt and took his back. Again, McDonald went into desperation mode and flipped to his back. The move did little more than open up the opportunity for the fight-ending armtriangle. Barao latched onto the choke to win by submission at 3:57 of the 4th round.
Check out the fight highlights in the video above.
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