Once referred to by Dana White as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter
in MMA in 2014, former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao
is experiencing what he calls a rebirth in the sport.
Some 19 months after five consecutive losses prompted his UFC
release, Barao is hungry to make a comeback.
“The most important thing for a fighter is to be happy. I had the
best structure, the best sparring and best trainers in the world at
American Top Team, but I was not happy. It was necessary for a
rival to extend his hand to me,” Barao told Sherdog.com. “There was
a big local rivalry between me and Patricio [Freire]; everyone in
our city (Natal) wanted to see us face each other. Last year, I saw
him say in an interview that he would love to help me return to
being the great champion I once was, inviting me to return to Natal
and train at Pitbull Brothers gym.
“I immediately asked a friend to put me in contact with Patricky
and returned to Natal. I was received with open arms at Pitbull
Brothers and my life totally changed.”
Barao was slated to return against Bobby
Moffett at Taura MMA 12 in November, but concerns related to
the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of that event.
Now, “The Baron is looking for another opportunity. Currently, the
34-year-old Brazilian is eyeing a spot in the Professional Fighters
League 2022 season.
“I would love to fight in the PFL featherweight grand prix in 2022.
I love that format.” Barao said. “Today if I had invitations from
the three largest organizations, I wouldn’t think twice about
choosing the PFL.”
Despite his recent struggles, Barao still owns a 34-9 career mark
in MMA. The Brazilian wants to make it clear that he has no hard
feelings toward the UFC or Dana White.
“The other day I was on Instagram Live and Dana entered and said
‘Hello my boy.’ We always had a good relationship. Let’s just say I
don’t owe anything to UFC and the UFC owes nothing to me,” he
said.
Barao’s only bad memory from his UFC tenure is the difficult weight
cut he often endured to reach the bantamweight limit.
“That was where I lost my love for fighting,” he said. “When I saw
Deiveson [Figueiredo] in his last fight against [Brandon] Moreno, I
saw myself. We have basically the same style. I have
absolutely no doubt that his performance dropped because of the
weight-cut process. Someone must tell him to go up to bantamweight,
otherwise he will lose the most important thing for a fighter —
love — and shorten his career.”
When it comes to the current state of the UFC’s bantamweight
division, Barao sees Petr Yan as
the real champion. The Russian lost the title at UFC 259 when he
was disqualified for landing an illegal knee against Aljamain
Sterling this past March.
“He [Yan] was winning that fight. Sterling as champion was ‘fake
news’ in my opinion, and [Yan] will show that in the rematch.”
Barao sees another opponent as the most serious threat to Yan at
135 pounds.
“I think Cory
Sandhagen’s game is a difficult matchup for Yan,” Barao
said.
While he awaits the call for his next fight, Barao splits time
between jiu-jitsu classes at his own academy and enjoying the
support of his new teammates.
“I’m really impressed with the amount of talent Pitbull Brothers
has in every single area,” he said. “The level of sparring and the
quality of trainers is very high. It is definitely possible to be
happy being close to your family and also be well trained. The fans
will see a reborn Barao when I return.”