Done With Bantamweight For Now, Renan Barao Is Focused On Aggression
Former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao was once in the discussion for being the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, but since his drop off after being de-throned by the now-former 135-pound champ TJ Dillashaw, he just hasn’t been the same.
Barao has since made the jump up in weight to the UFC’s 145-pound division, making quite the impression in his debut bout against No. 7-ranked Jeremy Stephens at UFC Fight Night 88 this past May.
While Barao put on quite the performance, he unfortunately was unable to get the job done in a unanimous decision loss to Stephens. Now Barao is set to undergo his second fight at featherweight, when he takes on Phillipe Nover at UFC Brasilia tomorrow night (September 24, 2016).
In a recent interview with FOX Sports, Barao noted that he thought he won the fight against Stephens just four months ago:
“I thought it was a great fight, a really tough fight. A lot of people, myself included, thought that I won.”
“That’s what it comes down to when you fight to a decision, but I thought it was a really good, a really tough fight,” Barao said.
The Brazilian also stated that after making the jump up in weight he is feeling a lot better and stronger at his new weight class, and believed the recovery from the cut to 135-pounds would affect his performance:
“I’m feeling really good, really strong in this weight class,” Barao said. “That’s because I don’t have to suffer like I was suffering in the past with the weight loss. I was having difficulty recovering after the weight cut, which I believe affected my performances. I’m feeling really good and really strong at featherweight.”
When asked if he was done competing at bantamweight, the former 135-pound champion admitted that is the plan for now and that his main focus is to go in and get the finish against Nover in front of his native crowd:
“For now yeah,” Barao said. “I’m feeling really good at featherweight and I hope to move a few steps up in the rankings.”
“My focus is the fight. I’m training like I’m fighting a top-five opponent so for me it doesn’t matter that Phillipe Nover isn’t a ranked fighter. I’m training the same way if I was fighting someone in the top five,” Barao said.
“My focus in this fight is to get a knockout or submission. To finish the fight as soon as possible because I’m going to be very aggressive in this one.”
Barao feels he desperately needs this win amongst his recent struggles, and that he has put his all into this training camp to ensure a positive result come fight night:
“I need this win no matter what,” Barao said. “Probably one of the wins I’ve most needed in my career. I’m training really hard to make sure this happens.”
Barao will meet Nover on the main card of UFC Brasilia live on FS1, from the Ginásio Nilson Nelson arena in Brasilia, Brazil tomorrow night (September 24, 2016).
