What's next for Renan Barao?

A look at the UFC's 135lb division

by Chris Marzella @ChrisMarzella

If you didn't already know, Renan Barao is one of the very best mixed martial artists on the planet.

Despite the very much controversial conclusion to his first UFC bantamweight title defence at UFC 169 against the always game Urijah Faber, all that really happened was Barao chalked off yet another contender for his crown, again.

Barao spent so much time as the interim champion, knocking off the top contenders in the absence of Dominick Cruz, that as champion now he has already defeated many of the top contenders.

Take a second and think who is next in line for a crack at the exhilarating Brazilian. Michael McDonald? Been there, done that. Eddie Wineland? Same. Faber? Again?

The problem is, Barao was too good for everyone before he was the champion. How likely is that to change now that he is the undisputed bantamweight champion?

The rankings are always a good place to start when considering future contenders. From the list of guys not already humbled by Barao we have Raphael Assuncao, Urijah Faber's stablemate TJ Dillashaw and of course former champion Dominick Cruz.

From that list the next challenger seems to be fairly obvious.

Dillashaw, despite the ringing endorsement issued by Faber in the aftermath of UFC 169, has already lost to Assuncao back in October at UFC Fight Night 29, so Assuncao should and in all probability will be ahead of him in the line.

All that seems fine and well, apart from the fact there's only one fight everyone wants to see at 135 pounds. The countdown is on until the former champion is healthy again.

The highly anticipated unification match that never quite materialised needs to happen, if not for anything other than to solidify the belief that Barao is the premier bantamweight on the planet.

And with that, there is a problem. When a champion dominates his division, fairly often they defend their title against people who, quite frankly, don't belong in title fights, just look at some of the challengers Anderson Silva faced over the years.

Barao has beaten the top contenders in his division, with the exception of a couple, so the list to choose from if fairly narrow.

The only fight that matters though is with Dominick Cruz. We have been teased with this prospect for the last two years and I'm fairly certain that it is the only fight anyone really wants to see next.

The quicker Cruz gets himself fit the sooner we can see the best possible bantamweight fight on the planet.

Eddie Wineland vs Renan Barao is back on

Barao vs Wineland to co main event UFC 165

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

Wineland gets his chance again as Renan Barao v Eddie Wineland has been made official for UFC 165.
The fight will serve as chief support to Jones v Gustaffson and will see the Canadian fans in Toronto get to witness two title fights on the card.

The original bout was scheduled to main event UFC 161 but an injury to the interim champion put a stop to that. Wineland had feared he may have lost his opportunity at the champion due to circumstances beyond his control. Barao was originally expected to be out for a lot longer. If this was the case most people expected for him to come back and battle Cruz to crown a true champion of the bantamweight division.

Dominick Cruz is still somehow the champion of the division despite not defending his belt for close to 2 years now. He is back in training now but with no return date scheduled. This will be Barao's 2nd defense of his interim belt which makes a mockery of what the belt is really intended for. He is by all accounts the best in the division and a deserving champion. Wineland won't care about that and gets the chance he thought he had lost to take the belt away from Brazil. Can he replicate what Chris Weidman did at the weekend and bring another title back to the USA.