UFC on FX 7 Results Recap: Renan Barao utilizes diverse skillset to submit Michael McDonald

UFC on FX 7 is in the books live from London, England, and we have a truly legitimate force as the UFC Interim Bantamweight champion. Renan Barao used a diverse array of skills to best challenger Michael McDonald, who looked to become the youngest champion in UFC history. The fight was a slugfest from start to finish, as Barao scored a couple of early takedowns while McDonald used his trademark boxing to land some great shots.

He had Barao rocked at one point, but the Brazilian battled back to land some truly incredible kicks, blasting McDonald with an absolutely vicious spinning back kick to the face. In the fourth round, McDonald gambled heavily for position, and thus gave up his back. Barao capitalized by locking on a super-tight arm triangle, and while McDonald withstood the hold for some time, the end was near. Barao makes quite the statement in defending his interim belt.

In the co-main event, two extremely tough Featherweights went to war in Cub Swanson versus Dustin Poirier. You could tell that every strike thrown had bad intentions, and it was a back-and-forth war. Poirier proved himself a game fighter by scoring repeated flurries of pinpoint strikes, but Swanson found a late takedown to control the onslaught as the bout wound down to a close. Ultimately Swanson earned the hard-fought unanimous decision victory, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of Dustiin Poirier as a top-ranked Featherweight.

In other action, Jimi Manuwa earned a victory over Cyrille Diabate after Diabate suffered a calf injury to end the first round. Gunnar Nelson outpointed Jorge Santiago to earn a unanimous decision victory. At Light Heavyweight, Jame Te Huna beat Ryan Jimmo in a hard-fought, grinding decision win. Finally, Matt Riddle thoroughly dominated Che Mills to score another decision win to start the main card out. UFC on FX 7 had a ton of decision wins, but truly showcased the advanced skills of one Renan Barao. Hopefully Dominick Cruz returns healthy sooner than later to make his case against the Brazilian phenom. 

UFC on FX 7 Full Results:

Main Card:

Renan Barao def. Michael McDonald via R4 Submission (Arm Triangle)

Cub Swanson def. Dustin Poirier via Unanimous Decision 

Jimi Manuwa defeated Cyrille Diabate via R1 TKO (Injury)

Gunnar Nelson def. Jorge Santiago via Unanimous Decision

James Te Huna def. Ryan Jimmo via Unanimous Decision 

Matt Riddle def. Che Mills via Split Decision

Preliminary Card:

Renee Forte def. Terry Etim via Unanimous Decision 

Danny Castillo def. Paul Sass via Unanimous Decision

Andy Ogle def. Josh Grispi via Unanimous Decision 

Tom Watson def. Stanislov Nedkov via TKO (Ref Stoppage)