Dillashaw: Barao explanation not accurate
TJ Dillashaw: “He had to come up with some sort of a reason why he got beat up so bad… his best round was actually the round after he got knocked down.”
Renan Barao lost his first fight, nearly a decade ago, and then won over 30 straight, including multiple title defenses. He lost to TJ Dillashaw at UFC 173 in May, and has a rematch scheduled at UFC 177 in August.
In a series of interviews, Barao offered explanations for the loss well beyond “he was the better man that night.”
“I accepted the fight on short notice and I wasn’t 100 percent ready for it,” he said earlier this month. Barao also said he took a good shoot early in the first, and was out of it for the remainder of the fight.
“I remember everything that happened until that point,” said Baro. “After, I only woke up in the locker room. The fight was really close in the beginning, but everything changed after that punch.
“He landed a heavy punch in the beginning of the fight and I kept fighting on autopilot. I was too slow, I wasn’t thinking. Dede told me to do one thing and I did another. But I will fight smart this time, I won’t let this happen again.”
Dillashaw was not impressed with Barao’s explanation that he woke up in the locker room.
He had to come up with some sort of a reason why he got beat up so bad, said Dillashaw to Steven Marrocco for MMAJunkie. I feel like that’s not accurate, because he came out and the second round was his best round. I feel like after the second round is when I actually broke him, because his best round was actually the round after he got knocked down.
I’m not saying he didn’t go on autopilot, but for not losing that long, you’ve got to have some kind of excuse.
I can’t get overly confident. I’ve got to respect him just like I did in the first fight. He is very dangerous, and I just want to make sure I go in there with the same respect for him and belief in myself.