UFC On FOX 16 - Dillashaw vs Barao 2 Preview.
Main Event: TJ Dillashaw (11-2) vs. Renan Barao (33-2)
On May 24th of 2014, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a dominant champion of the bantamweight division was set to defend his gold against a young, determined breakthrough fighter with a point to prove. That point, to many peoples suprise, was proven. As TJ Dillashaw was crowned the new UFC Bantamweight champion, as he ended Renan Barao's 30 fight unbeaten streak, by outclassing him for five rounds before finishing him off with brutal kicks and punches.
Since that night which made UFC history, Dillashaw has only defended his belt to one person, Joe Soto, who was making his UFC debut on the night that he fought Dillashaw at UFC 177. Similarly enough, Dillashaw outclassed Soto for five rounds, and like with Barao, finished him with kicks and punches.
However, in no way shape or form does this mean that Dillashaw has not proven his worth as champion. His movement is sharp, and extremely difficult to anticipate (as proven with his first fight against Barao.) Also, if that's not enough, being a division one wrestler means that Dillashaw is more than comfortable on the ground, with great takedowns and crisp passes. All of these valuable assets has proven that Dillashaw is a very well-rounded fighter, and therefore Barao will have needed to of made great adjustments from the first fight to stand any chance of re-gaining his belt.
Fighting out of team Nova Uniao with the likes of UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, the 'Baron' certainly has the training partners to guide him towards UFC gold. A black belt in BJJ under Andre Pederneiras, Barao's ground game is certainly not one to be doubted. The 28 year old Brazilian has notable wins over; Urijah Faber (twice) and Michael McDonald. This match up between Dillashaw and Barao is definitely one to watch, as Barao will of most likely learned a lot from the first fight, and may have some new assets in his arsenal.
 |
| Dillashaw dominated Barao in their first bout. |
However, in no way shape or form does this mean that Dillashaw has not proven his worth as champion. His movement is sharp, and extremely difficult to anticipate (as proven with his first fight against Barao.) Also, if that's not enough, being a division one wrestler means that Dillashaw is more than comfortable on the ground, with great takedowns and crisp passes. All of these valuable assets has proven that Dillashaw is a very well-rounded fighter, and therefore Barao will have needed to of made great adjustments from the first fight to stand any chance of re-gaining his belt.
Fighting out of team Nova Uniao with the likes of UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, the 'Baron' certainly has the training partners to guide him towards UFC gold. A black belt in BJJ under Andre Pederneiras, Barao's ground game is certainly not one to be doubted. The 28 year old Brazilian has notable wins over; Urijah Faber (twice) and Michael McDonald. This match up between Dillashaw and Barao is definitely one to watch, as Barao will of most likely learned a lot from the first fight, and may have some new assets in his arsenal.
