A bantamweight title bout between Renan Barao and T.J. Dillashaw has been named the new main event for UFC 173.
Barao (32-1, 1 NC) is one of the hottest fighters in MMA, currently riding a 33-fight unbeaten streak with his only loss coming in his pro debut in 2005. The Brazilian is 7-0 in the UFC coming off consecutive stoppage wins over Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland and Michael McDonald.
Dillashaw (9-2) is coming off a win over Mike Easton in January and has been on a tear since his 2011 stint on The Ultimate Fighter 14. His only loss since the TUF 14 Finale, where he was knocked out by John Dodson in the 135-pound finals, was a close split decision to Rafael Assuncao last October.
It was believed Assuncao would be awarded a shot against Barao considering he is 6-0 at bantamweight and holds a split decision win over Dillashaw, however, Assuncao isn’t expected to be ready to fight until July or August due to an injury so the UFC set up the Dillashaw matchup.
UFC 173 takes place May 24 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Chris Weidman vs Lyoto Machida was slated to headline the card, but the middleweight title matchup was pushed back to UFC 175 because Weidman suffered a knee injury that required a minor surgical procedure. The event was originally scheduled to feature Weidman vs Vitor Belfort, but Belfort withdrew from the fight after Nevada implemented its new TRT regulations.
Projected UFC 173 fight card to date:
MAIN CARD (pay-per-view)
— Renan Barao vs T.J. Dillashaw
— Junior dos Santos vs Stipe Miocic
— Tony Ferguson vs Katsunori Kikuno
— Jamie Varner vs James Krause
PRELIMINARY CARD (Sportsnet 360)
— Michael Chiesa vs Francisco Trinaldo
— Chris Holdsworth vs Kyung-Ho Kang
— Al Iaquinta vs Mitch Clarke
— Anthony Njokuani vs Vinc Pichel
ONLINE PRELIMS (UFC Fight Pass)
— Yves Edwards vs Piotr Hallmann
— Sam Sicilia vs Doo Ho Choi
— Danny Mitchell vs Li Jingliang
