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Former UFC Champ Renan Barao Needs A Convincing Win Badly

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Renan Barao

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

I say it all the time, but it still makes me stare in awe at how crazy the sport of MMA is.

In the past couple months, we have seen a fighter come back from a three-year layoff and perform like he was still the champ, one-time title contenders go three-and-out, and of course, champions fall from glory. Normally, I love it when a champion loses, especially when the champion has been on top for a while. It shakes up a division and keeps things exciting. However, on the other side of the coin, when a dominant champ loses, it can be earth-shattering and the fighter can take the loss extremely hard.

There have been none more noteworthy case of this than Renan Barao’s fall from grace.

After taking an absolute beating from T.J. Dillashaw, which I am still surprised at because I thought that Dillashaw was walking into his own funeral, Barao was scheduled for an immediate rematch. The rematch was not to be as Barao faltered while cutting weight, hit his head, and was deemed unable to fight. Dillashaw instead defended his belt against a very game Joe Soto. While Soto was getting all the respect in the world from the fans, Barao became public enemy No. 1.

Barao is now scheduled to make his comeback against Mitch Gagnon, and I’m sure everyone will be watching closely. To say that Barao needs a solid performance is like saying that a man dying in the desert needs a drink. Barao not only needs to dominate this fight, he needs to perform a full-blown public transformation.

He better come out, acknowledge his mistakes, promise he is all better and whip Gagnon. Anything other than that will only harm Barao more. As a champ who was not necessarily popular, Barao needs this in a big way.

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