Rivalries: Renan Barao

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Renan Barao was for a short time in the running for the top spot on the sport’s pound-for-pound list, his incredible peak cut short by a stunning and unexpected fall from grace.

Barao will return from a two-year sabbatical and seek his first victory since 2016 when he faces Tyson Duckworth for the vacant Premier Fighting Championship featherweight crown in the PFC 32 headliner on Friday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder started his career with a 32-1 record that included a remarkable 33-bout unbeaten streak—he went 32-0 with one no contest—between May 13, 2005 and Feb. 1, 2014. However, Barao crashed and burned from there, as he suffered eight losses in 10 appearances and surrendered not only his championship but his spot on the UFC roster. “The Baron” last competed at UFC Fight Night 164, where he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against fellow Brazilian Douglas Silva de Andrade on Nov. 16, 2019.

As the MMA world awaits word on Barao’s return, a look at some of the rivalries that have helped shape his career:

Urijah Faber

Big-fight credentials could no longer be questioned after Barao captured the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title with a surprisingly one-sided unanimous decision over the Team Alpha Male patriarch in the UFC 149 headliner on July 21, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta. The Brazilian swept the scorecards with 49-46, 50-45 and 49-46 marks from the cageside judges. Barao kept the former World Extreme Cagefighting champion at arm’s reach throughout the 25-minute encounter, grew more and more comfortable in the pocket as the fight progressed and landed in combination, often punctuating his attack with vicious leg kicks. The tactic forced Faber to alternate between orthodox and southpaw stances, largely negating his powerful right hand. His offense was limited to short bursts, none of which threw Barao off his scent. The Andre Pederneiras disciple denied all six of Faber’s takedown attempts, all while mixing in punches and knees to the body for good measure. The rematch was far more decisive, as Barao laid waste to “The California Kid” with punches 3:42 into their UFC 169 main event in February 2014.

Eddie Wineland

Barao retained his interim bantamweight championship in spectacular fashion, as he stopped the onetime WEC titleholder with a spinning back kick to the face and follow-up punches in the first round of their UFC 165 co-feature on Sept. 21, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Wineland succumbed to the blows 35 seconds into Round 2, suffering the first knockout loss of his career. Champion and challenger battled to a relative stalemate through the first five minutes, though Barao started to zero in on his counterpart late in Round 1. Early in the second, the Nova Uniao star unleashed the kick. While it seemed to only graze Wineland’s chin, it landed with enough force to drop the Duneland Vale Tudo representative where he stood. The opportunistic Barao followed up immediately with well-placed punches, as he sewed up his 21st consecutive victory and continued to establish himself as a pound-for-pound force at 135 pounds.

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T.J. Dillashaw

“The Ultimate Fighter 14” finalist shocked the combat sports world when he struck down Barao with a head kick and follow-up punches to capture the undisputed bantamweight crown in the fifth round of their UFC 173 main event on May 24, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Dillashaw drew the curtain 2:26 into Round 5, as he became the first man to defeat the Brazilian in nearly a decade. He pieced together a virtuoso performance across four-plus rounds. Dillashaw floored the Nova Uniao export with an overhand right roughly 90 seconds into the match and never looked back. From that point forward, Barao was on his heels. He had no answer for Dillashaw’s lateral movement and multi-strike bursts, as he absorbed blows to the legs, body and head. The underdog challenger put his signature on the masterpiece in Round 5. There, Dillashaw rattled Barao with a savage head kick, swarmed with punches and dropped him with a left hook before an unanswered volley of punches and hammerfists brought it to a close. They met for a second time a little more than a year later. Dillashaw showed his upset was no fluke, as he dismissed Barao with punches 35 seconds into the fourth round of their UFC on Fox 16 rematch in July 2015.

Aljamain Sterling

The onetime Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder crossed a significant name off of his list, as he took a three-round unanimous decision from Barao in a 140-pound catchweight attraction at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017. Scores were 29-28, 29-27 and 30-26, all for Sterling—a Serra-Longo Fight Team representative who appeared to come of age before a crowd of 16,610 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Barao started strong but faded late. Sterling overwhelmed him in the second round, where he executed a takedown and advanced to the back before settling in top position and applying his ground-and-pound. Fatigue became more and more of an issue for Barao as the fight moved forward. Sterling buzzed the tower with a front kick early in the third round and then smothered him in a series of clinches, letting the punches fly along the way. By the time it was over, the “Funk Master” hat outlanded Barao by a 71-19 margin in significant strikes and started him down a path to irrelevance that saw the Brazilian suffer five straight losses and draw a pink slip from the UFC.