Renan Barao, Eddie Wineland meet for interim 135 title as UFC 165 co-main event

The UFC’s interim bantamweight title fight planned for June is back on again.

Interim champ Renan Barao (30-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will defend the title against Eddie Wineland (20-8-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in September as the co-main event of UFC 165. UFC officials announced the rebooking on Wednesday night.

UFC 165 takes place Sept. 21 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. A light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and top contender Alexander Gustafsson headlines the pay-per-view main card, which makes the show a relatively rare two-title-fight event for the UFC. Prelims air on FOX Sports 1 and stream on Facebook.

Barao and Wineland were scheduled to fight in June’s UFC 161 main event in Winnipeg. But in May, Barao suffered a foot injury, forcing him out of the fight.

UFC President Dana White said on several occasions he was unsure just how soon Barao would be able to return – and even told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that if he were Wineland, he would consider taking another fight in the meantime rather than waiting too long for Barao to get healthy. But now that won’t have to be the case for Wineland, who was the first bantamweight champion in WEC history prior to that promotion’s purchase by UFC parent company Zuffa.

Barao looks to defend the interim title for the second time. Regular champ Dominick Cruz has been sidelined for nearly two years after back-to-back knee surgeries, and a timetable for his return still is uncertain.

Barao won the interim belt against Urijah Faber at UFC 149 nearly a year ago. He then defended it with a fourth-round submission of Michael McDonald in England in February. Barao has won 30 straight fights and is unbeaten in the UFC.

Wineland won the WEC’s 135-pound title in 2006 but lost it in his first defense against Chase Beebe. After a couple fights on his local circuit in Northwest Indiana, Wineland returned to the WEC with a loss to Rani Yahya before rattling off four straight wins – with back-to-back “Knockout of the Night” bonuses – before the merger with the UFC.

Wineland’s UFC career started on a down note with consecutive losses to Urijah Faber in a top-contender’s fight and Faber teammate Joseph Benavidez. But he rebounded by becoming the first fighter to knock out Scott Jorgensen in June 2012, and he then took a split decision from Brad Pickett in December (though that split featured a pair of 30-27 scores for Wineland).

The latest UFC 165 card now includes:

• Champ Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson – for light-heavyweight title
• Champ Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland – for interim bantamweight title
• Myles Jury vs. Mike Ricci
• Ivan Menjivar vs. Norifumi Yamamoto
• Mark Bocek vs. Michel Prazeres
• Chris Clements vs. Stephen Thompson
• Nandor Guelmino vs. Daniel Omielanczuk

For the latest on UFC 165, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Renan Barao)