Urijah Faber has improved immensely under the tutelage of Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, but it was not enough to dethrone the champion.

The two met in the middle of the octagon and did not shy away from throwing shots in the opening seconds. Renan Barao came out on top of all of their exchanges early on, but it came to the surprise of many when he dropped Faber with a right cross.

Faber got back to his feet and was wobbly from that point forward. He withstood the barrage of punches Barao was throwing and made it back to the middle of the octagon, but it was clear he wasn’t all there.

Barao dropped him again, except this time, Faber pancaked on the mat and fell face down. Barao hopped on top of him and started throwing hammerfists, and at that point Faber was turtled up. Faber had his arm wrapped around Barao’s leg, but it was clear he was not moving or going for a takedown. Herb Dean felt like he saw enough and called a stop to the fight.

Urijah Faber looked up in disbelief, telling Dean he gave him a thumbs up. Was it a fair stoppage? Share your thoughts on the comment section below!

Renan Barao def. Urijah Faber by way of TKO (Punches) 3:42 of Round 1