Stephens' power punching spoils Barao's featherweight debut

Jeremy Stephens can now add a former UFC champion to his list of conquests.

The 30-year-old featherweight put his prodigious power to good use, hurting Renan Barao on more than one occasion to ruin the former bantamweight king's first UFC fight at 145 pounds. Barao's grappling kept things close, but not close enough, as Stephens took a unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night 88 co-main event:

The first round saw Barao use his technical striking to poke away at Stephens while making the larger man miss. However, it wasn't long before Barao was forced to deal with the consequences of moving up in weight. The punches from Stephens that fell short in Round 1 turned into damaging shots in Round 2.

A stiff jab, an uppercut, and a big right had Barao backpedaling. At times, he looked more like the Barao that lost twice to T.J. Dillashaw, as opposed to the fighter who once went nine years without losing a fight.

Barao showed the heart of a champion while going for takedowns that could have changed the makeup of the fight, but he was unable to hold down Stephens or initiate any notable offense on the mat.

With the huge win, Stephens rebounded from a decision loss against Max Holloway to improve to 5-3 as a UFC featherweight.

Barao dropped his third fight in four appearances, and it's unclear whether he'll stay at featherweight or return to 135 pounds.