Barao out of UFC 161 Injured, Evans vs Henderson Now Headlines

Foot injury forces interim champ Renan Barao out of UFC 161

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

The UFC have officially announced that Interim UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao, will no longer be headlining UFC 161 after being forced to pull out due to a foot injury.

Barao (30-1-1-NC) was due to headline the event for his Interim belt against Eddie Wineland (20-8-1). There has been no official statement by the UFC regarding Wineland. Whether he remain on the card, or not we will have to wait and see but it could mean he has to wait a little longer to get his shot at the belt.

The headline spot has now been taken by the original co-main event which will see Dan Henderson take on Rashad Evans. It has also been confirmed that this fight will take place over 3 rounds and not 5 rounds which is now the standard for all main event fights. 

Evans (22-3-1) is coming into the fight on back to back unanimous decision losses, first to Jon Jones at UFC 145 for the UFC light heavyweight title and more recently and surprisingly to Antionio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156 in February. Dan Henderson saw his title shot against Jon Jones go up in smoke when he lost in a split decision to Lyoto Machida at UFC 157. This will be a good chance for both fighters to get back into the title mix.

A fight that has also just been announced and added to the main card of UFC 161, which will see Roy "Big Country" Nelson (19-7) face Stipe Miocic (9-1).