Good things tend to come to those who wait. Try waiting 10 years. Former WEC Featherweight Champion Cole Escovedo will make his UFC debut at UFC 130, taking on 24-year-old prospect Renan Barao. Escovedo was preparing for this fight against Tommy Vargas for Tachi Palace Fighting when he received a call from Sean Shelby, the UFC match maker for the Bantamweight and Featherweight division.
In the ever-growing elite level of Mixed Martial Arts fighters in the UFC, every event will potentially eliminate one or more fighters off the roster. UFC 130 this weekend is no different even with its popular lineup of well-known fighters some may be in the fight unemployment line come Monday morning. Here is the list of our opinion on who may be in the hot seat.
On Saturday, May 28th, the UFC returns to its home in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill from inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. After the success of showing every single fight from UFC 129, this card’s undercard will also be shown on both Spike TV and Facebook. In this week’s breakdown, we are going to focus solely on the preliminary fights and follow up with a look at the Main Card next week.
Johnson’s original opponent, Renan Barao will remain on the card as the UFC announced today that Cole Escovedo will serve as a replacement for Johnson.
From being the first ever WEC Featherweight Champion to coming back after a horrible staph infection that left him out of the sport for about three years, Cole Escovedo has done more than most people in his MMA career. The Fresno, California native will return to Tachi Palace Fights on May 6th when he takes on 7-1 Tommy Vargas.
