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Escovedo-‘Barao’ Slated for UFC 130 Bantamweight Bout

Cole Escovedo will make his Octagon debut at UFC 130. | Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com



Onetime World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Cole Escovedo has answered the call to face fellow WEC veteran Renan ‘Barao’ Pegado in a 135-pound matchup at UFC 130.

Pegado was originally scheduled to square off with Demetrious Johnson at the event, but was left without an opponent when Johnson was tapped to step in for an injured Brad Pickett against Miguel Torres. Sherdog.com has confirmed the Escovedo-Pegado pairing with a source close to the bout; MMAJunkie.com initially reported the new matchup on Friday.

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UFC 130 will go down May 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a lightweight title rematch between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Also scheduled for the event is a light heavyweight tilt pitting Quinton Jackson against Matt Hamill, as well as a pair of heavyweight confrontations featuring Frank Mir taking on Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve locking up with Travis Browne.

The WEC’s first featherweight champ, Escovedo parted ways with the promotion in 2006. After suffering three consecutive losses that year, the 29-year-old rebounded with five straight victories, competing under both the Dream and Strikeforce banners. Escovedo recently dropped back-to-back bouts to close out 2010, falling by knockout and submission to Michael McDonald and Michihiro Omigawa, respectively. The bantamweight was last seen submitting Steven Siler with a triangle choke in January. Escovedo’s pending scrap with ‘Barao’ will mark his UFC debut.

At only 24 years of age, ‘Barao’ already has 27 career bouts to his credit. The once-beaten Brazilian lost his professional debut in 2005 and has not tasted defeat since. After fighting exclusively in Brazil for the majority of his career, the Nova Uniao fighter debuted with WEC in June 2010, submitting Anthony Leone via third-round armbar. Pegado would follow that performance with another victory inside the little blue cage, choking out Chris Cariaso at WEC 53 in December. Like Escovedo, the Brazilian will see his first Octagon action at UFC 130.

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