Barao, Wineland expect title unification bout with Cruz following UFC 161

Renan Barao (30-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Eddie Wineland (20-8-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) are focused on each other, but they both expect to meet champ Dominick Cruz down the road.

“I’m looking at this fight first, Barao said at a news conference in support of UFC 161, which he headlines opposite Wineland on June 15 at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. “After that, (I’m) definitely (looking) to Dominick.”

“[Barao] is a tough opponent, and given that I beat him, (I should get the title shot),” Wineland added. “I think it all depends on [Cruz's] doctors. If he’s not healthy to compete, he’s not healthy to compete.”

According to his coach, Cruz, who this past December underwent a second reconstructive surgery for a torn ACL, is getting healthier. Eric Delfierro today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the champion was cleared on Monday to begin “more advanced training.” However, he is still unable to wrestle, and the team has not set a target date for his return.

The poster for UFC 161 advertises the bantamweight headliner as a world bantamweight championship as opposed to an interim title bout, which hints at potential a change in Cruz’s status as the undisputed champ.

UFC President Dana White recently told MMAjunkie.com he would meet the champ to discuss his future. He admitted the knee injury, which has kept Cruz out of action for more than a year, has held up the division. Barao’s fight with Wineland is the second defense of his interim strap.

“[Cruz is] our champ, he’s our guy, and he needs time,” White told MMAjunkie.com this past month in Montreal. “But we’re getting to the point now where we really need to make a decision.”

Delfierro said the meeting hasn’t taken place, but stressed that Cruz had not been stripped of his title. He anticipated the two would talk in two to three weeks.

Wineland, who was the first to hold the WEC title before the promotion was purchased by UFC parent Zuffa, enjoys back-to-back wins following a two-fight skid that endangered his job with the UFC. Barao has lost just once in eight years and 32 fights.

It appears that while both want to fight Cruz, neither wants to wait too long for the chance.

“Getting past [Barao], I would want to [be] inactive, so whatever the UFC decides is supposed to be is supposed to be,” Wineland said. “I don’t want to sit on the sidelines.”

For the latest on UFC 161, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Renan Barao)