Prior to taking on T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 173, Renan Barao had been touted by UFC president Dana White as possibly the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the UFC. He then went out and was dominated by Dillashaw, a heavy underdog, for the bantamweight title.
Another legend, Jose Aldo, who leads Team Nova Uniao which counts Barao as a member, thinks that Dillashaw’s stable, Team Alpha Male, was very disrespectful in the wake of the shocking result. Aldo was slated to headline UFC 176 against Alpha Male fighter Chad Mendes, but the card had to be scrapped. Still, he sees the UFC 177 rematch of Barao and Dillashaw as a way for his stable to exact revenge.
The disrespect stems from a photo posted by the Urijah Faber-led crew that listed a group of fighters in need of a Team Alpha Male seminar which included Barao.
"By their logic, how many times would we have to sign Urijah Faber in a MMA seminar at Nova Uniao? It was lack of respect. We always defeat them, (Urijah) Faber always lost to us and we never did that. We always respected them,” Aldo said. “We always tried to help them, like when they came here to the gym. We never disrespected them. But it's cool. Let's be patient, we will meet again. I have a fight coming up with Chad (Mendes), and Barao, God willing, will fight Dillashaw again and we will get the payback."
Those comments were prior to the cancellation of UFC 176, but so far all systems are go for Dillashaw-Barao 2.
Aldo also thinks Barao was not mentally in the right frame of mind after White praised him so profusely. “"Renan was well prepared, and of course that (Dillashaw) was also well trained, but Dillashaw surprised him. Barao could have been better physically, mentally, everything, but he didn't expect the way Dillashaw fought. Let's say Barao was more relaxed than the other fight, he thought he would get in there as the champion, throw a punch and get the knockout,” Aldo said.
“He didn't have his feet on the ground, a good head. Two days before the fight, Dana White said Barao was the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, that he could knock out every fighter, and maybe that made him underestimate Dillashaw, who got there humbly and showed how things work."
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