T.J. Dillashaw shocked the mixed martial arts universe by rocking long-time UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao in Round 1 of their UFC 173 clash and never looking back. He left the octagon with a brutal victory in hand, and Barao's title. Now, he doesn't feel much like giving the Brazilian an opportunity to win it back.
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"If I would have caught him in that first round, dropped him and finished him I could understand them saying 'oh he got caught, give us a chance', but I messed him up," Dillashaw said. "I beat him up for five rounds. I proved to a lot of guys in my weight class that Renan Barao can be beat and I gave them the blueprint of how to do it.
"So he needs to show he can come back from that before he can even fight me again. He could be beat once again. He's got to come back and prove that first before he can fight me again."
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Interestingly enough, rumors of the return of Dominick Cruz have been circulating with Barao as a potential opponent. Cruz, who hasn't fought since 2011, was the inspiration for Dillashaw's game plan.
"I've said in interviews for a while when they were asking me if I thought Dominick Cruz would be able to beat Renan Barao and I've been asked this question a lot, and even though Renan Barao's a more dangerous fighter and a great champion, I thought Cruz would be able to beat him with his footwork and movement. So for me, I just kind of played that up and realized that's really how I think you can beat Barao and I've been saying it for years now," Dillashaw said.
With Barao looking out of the running, Dillashaw said he'd like to avenge a loss to Raphael Assuncao that he suffered in October 2013.
"I did get that win, but I'd like to make it official. There's no way it's even going to be close to as close as it was last time. I'm a way better fighter even from then than I am now and I'm going to demolish him. That's going to be an easy fight for me," Dillashaw said.
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