Former UFC champion Renan Barao is set to return to MMA, facing Peter Ligier in the main event of Fera Championship’s debut card.
Renan Barao, a former UFC champion, is stepping back to the MMA world this October. His return includes a face-off with Peter Ligier at the main event of Fera Championship’s debut card on October 7, with Kuwait as the chosen venue. Despite the anticipation surrounding Barao’s comeback, his presence in the MMA circuit has been sporadic. The fighter has not stepped into the ring since his final UFC bout in 2019, where he faced defeat against Douglas Silva de Andrade.
After that match, Barao was scheduled several times to compete, however, for one reason or another, these events never took place. He was most recently curatorily announced to participate in a no-gloved MMA bout at Gamebred Bareknuckle against Sean Soriano. Nonetheless, Barao clarified that he had never agreed to this contest.
There was a time when Barao was globally recognized as the superior bantamweight competitor, clutching the UFC title from Urijah Faber and successfully defending it from others including Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland, and once again Faber. However, he tumbled when he went up against T.J. Dillashaw, losing twice in his ravenous attempts to regain the title. The event in October will also witness his opponent, Ligier, return after a hiatus since his last fight in 2018. The French fighter, having competed under the Bellator banner, marked his last win with back-to-back finishes in the European circuit.
Adding to the intrigue of the card, veteran Ronny Markes will go up against Argentina’s Lucas Chiumiento. Fans are eagerly looking forward to the matches, which include encounters between Renan Barao and Peter Ligier, Renzo Martinez and Italo Trindade, Leonardo Rodriguez and Carlos Silva, Lucas Chiumiento and Ronny Markes, Ebrahim Mohammed and Al Adwani, Zeyad Belgoute and Al Hajri, and Juan Pablo Ayala Otta and Abdullah Al Saleem.