RIO DE JANEIRO — Dana White said Renan Barao might be the closest to Floyd Mayweather the UFC has in terms of winning streaks, but the Brazilian doesn’t see himself that way.
Following his second-round TKO victory over Eddie Wineland at UFC 165, the interim bantamweight champion spoke to MMAFighting.com about the UFC president’s compliments for his second title defense inside the Octagon.
“It’s an honor to be compared to a legend like Mayweather,” Barao said. “It feels great to be compared to a man that made history in the sport.”
Mayweather last fought one week before UFC 165, moving to 45-0 with a decision win over Saul Canelo. Barao hasn’t lost since his MMA debut in 2005, and the win over Wineland improved his undefeated fight streak to 32.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he sees himself as UFC’s Mayweather. “I have a lot of work to do yet, and I keep my feet on the ground. But the goal is stay unbeaten for a long time. I will work hard to stay this way.”
Barao might be closer to Mayweather’s undefeated streak, but he’s nowhere near the boxing champion’s $41.5 million dollars check for his last fight.
“I hope I can make something like that one day,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll pray for this to happen one day. It’s already way better now that it was in the past. MMA is growing a lot so maybe we will get closer to a purse like this. Who knows?”