Renan Barao faced tougher competition than ever before on Saturday at UFC 138, but his winning streak remains.
Barao, the Brazilian who lost his first professional MMA fight and hasn’t lost since, beat Brad Pickett to improve his record to 27-1, with one no contest.
The fight lasted just 4 minutes, 9 seconds, and it was exciting throughout. They both came out swinging, with Barao appearing to land the harder shots in the early going but Pickett also giving Barao all he could handle, and the opening minutes were a lot of fun as the fans in Birmingham, England, got behind the British Pickett.
But Barao took control of the fight when he hit Pickett’s face with a brutal knee, then knocked him down with a combination of punches and then at the first opportunity took Pickett’s back. Barao sunk in a body triangle and had control of Pickett, and when Barao secured a rear-naked choke, all Pickett could do was tap.
“When I hit him with the knee, I knew I could land the combinations, and I jumped on his back to finish with the submission,” Barao said afterward.
Pickett, whose record falls to 20-6, is a fine fighter and one of the world’s best bantamweights. But he’s not as good as Barao — Barao is one of the world’s truly elite, and he may be a future bantamweight champion.