Renan Barao: I woke up in the locker room at UFC 173

RIO DE JANEIRO — Renan Barao will fight his third UFC title fight in less than seven months at August’s UFC 177, but this time he will be in the blue corner.

The former UFC bantamweight kingpin will try to reclaim the title when he rematches T.J. Dillashaw on Aug. 30 in Las Vegas, Nev., and he changed a few things in his camp for the rematch.

“You always have to bring something new,” Barao said in a media scrum in Brazil. “I accepted the fight on short notice and I wasn’t 100 percent ready for it, but this time will be different. I never trained so hard in my entire life, so it’s going to be different.

“The title is coming back to Brazil. I’m hungry to get this title back. I will get what is mine.”

Dillashaw snapped Barao’s 31-fight win streak in devastating fashion on May 24, and the Nova Uniao bantamweight admitted he doesn’t remember anything that happened in the fight after he was knocked down in the opening round.

“I remember everything that happened until that point,” he said. “After (that punch), 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,” Barao continued. “I was too slow, I wasn’t thinking. (Andre Pederneiras) 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 wasn’t expected to face Barao again after such a dominant victory. The UFC champion expected to defend his title against Raphael Assuncao, who is unbeaten at 135 pounds and defeated him via decision in October.

“T.J. can say anything he wants, but he’s not the one who makes the decisions,” Barao replied. “UFC makes the calls. The UFC gave me this opportunity, so I’m happy. T.J. is completely wrong.”

RIO DE JANEIRO — Renan Barao will fight his third UFC title fight in less than seven months at August’s UFC 177, but this time he will be in the blue corner.

The former UFC bantamweight kingpin will try to reclaim the title when he rematches T.J. Dillashaw on Aug. 30 in Las Vegas, Nev., and he changed a few things in his camp for the rematch.

“You always have to bring something new,” Barao said in a media scrum in Brazil. “I accepted the fight on short notice and I wasn’t 100 percent ready for it, but this time will be different. I never trained so hard in my entire life, so it’s going to be different.

“The title is coming back to Brazil. I’m hungry to get this title back. I will get what is mine.”

Dillashaw snapped Barao’s 31-fight win streak in devastating fashion on May 24, and the Nova Uniao bantamweight admitted he doesn’t remember anything that happened in the fight after he was knocked down in the opening round.

“I remember everything that happened until that point,” he said. “After (that punch), 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,” Barao continued. “I was too slow, I wasn’t thinking. (Andre Pederneiras) 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 wasn’t expected to face Barao again after such a dominant victory. The UFC champion expected to defend his title against Raphael Assuncao, who is unbeaten at 135 pounds and defeated him via decision in October.

“T.J. can say anything he wants, but he’s not the one who makes the decisions,” Barao replied. “UFC makes the calls. The UFC gave me this opportunity, so I’m happy. T.J. is completely wrong.”