Renan Barao, Douglas Silva de Andrade move up to featherweight for UFC Sao Paulo fight

Two Brazilians will move up from bantamweight to featherweight for a fight at UFC Sao Paulo on Nov. 16.

Renan Barao, a former 135-pound champion in the UFC, has agreed to take on Douglas Silva de Andrade at the Fight Night event in Brazil, multiple sources confirmed to MMA Fighting following a report by Combate.

Once considered one of the best fighters in the world with victories over the likes of Urijah Faber (twice), Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland and Brad Pickett, Barao (34-8, 1 no-contest) is in desperate need for a win after dropping six of his last seven. Barao’s last win came in a featherweight bout with Phillipe Nover in 2016.

The ex-UFC champion missed weight for his last two UFC bouts, including a split decision defeat to Andre Ewell in Sao Paulo last year. Barao had a good first round in his last Octagon appearance versus Luke Sanders earlier this year, but ended up knocked out in the second stanza, going 0-4 in the last 26 months.

Andrade (25-3, 1 no-contest) last fought in Dec. 2018, losing via TKO to rising bantamweight prospect Petr Yan. “D’Silva” entered the UFC on a flawless 22-fight winning streak and won three of six as a bantamweight in the UFC, including a decision over Marlon Vera. The last time Silva fought at 145 pounds was in his UFC debut, when he lost a decision to Zubaira Tukhugov.

UFC Sao Paulo will be headlined by Ronaldo Souza’s light heavyweight debut opposite Jan Blachowicz.