Once again, Renan Barao is scheduled to make his first appearance in since his departure from the UFC.
Barao (34-9) will face William Gomis (9-2) at ARES FC 7 on June 25 in Paris, the promotion announced via Instagram on Tuesday. The event airs on UFC Fight Pass and takes place at Le Dome de Paris – Palais des Sports in Paris.
Barao, 35, has not competed since his exit from the UFC in 2019, but it has not been for lack of trying. The former UFC bantamweight champion has been scheduled to fight on three other occasions, but each booking fell through due to various reasons. His most recent attempt to return was with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s promotion to face Horacio Gutierrez at Eagle FC 44 in January.
Barao dropped five straight fights leading to being cut from the UFC in 2019. Prior to the bumps in the road that eventually led to the long skid, the Brazilian won 33-straight fights en route to claiming the interim title by defeating Urijah Faber at UFC 149. Barao was later promoted after Dominick Cruz vacated the title, and he would go on to defeat Faber again to record his only undisputed title defense at UFC 169.
Gomis, 24, hails from France and will enter the contest as a winner of his previous seven bouts. His two previous wins came by stoppage, submitting Baba Boundjou Nadjombe at Hexagone MMA 2 and scoring a TKO win over Arip Yakubov in March at UAE Warriors 28.
ARES FC 7 features two title fights at the top of the card. Abdoul Abdouraguimov will defend his welterweight title against Karl Amoussou in the main event and Akhmed Salamov will face Jose Galindo for the vacant middleweight title in the co-main bout.
