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.
This is the UFC 138 live blog for Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao, a bantamweight bout on the main card of the UFC 138 fight card in Birmingham, England.
Pickett (20-5) is making his UFC debut after winning three of his past four WEC fights. Barao (26-1, 1 NC) is back in the Octagon after defeating Cole Escovedo at UFC 130.
Round 1: Pickett swings a haymaker early and Barao answers back with a bungalow of his own. A wild exchange follows, Barao seemed to land the harder shot. Great beginning. Pickett scores on a lead left hook. Barao shoots in, Pickett sprawls and fires off a wild overhand right that misses its mark. Barao snaps his opponent’s head back with a series of jabs. We’re midway through. Pickett settles into his boxing style. Barao throws a combo and leads at least two punches in the series. Pickett looks unphased. Moments later, Barao rocks Pickett with a knee. Pickett’s wobbled and Barao swarms. Pickett falls backward and Barao stands over him with strikes. Pickett in major trouble, as the ref looks over him. Barao jumps on his back and sinks in the choke. Pickett resists, but it’s no avail. It’s over.
This is the UFC 138 live blog for Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao, a bantamweight bout on the main card of the UFC 138 fight card in Birmingham, England.
Pickett (20-5) is making his UFC debut after winning three of his past four WEC fights. Barao (26-1, 1 NC) is back in the Octagon after defeating Cole Escovedo at UFC 130.
Round 1: Pickett swings a haymaker early and Barao answers back with a bungalow of his own. A wild exchange follows, Barao seemed to land the harder shot. Great beginning. Pickett scores on a lead left hook. Barao shoots in, Pickett sprawls and fires off a wild overhand right that misses its mark. Barao snaps his opponent’s head back with a series of jabs. We’re midway through. Pickett settles into his boxing style. Barao throws a combo and leads at least two punches in the series. Pickett looks unphased. Moments later, Barao rocks Pickett with a knee. Pickett’s wobbled and Barao swarms. Pickett falls backward and Barao stands over him with strikes. Pickett in major trouble, as the ref looks over him. Barao jumps on his back and sinks in the choke. Pickett resists, but it’s no avail. It’s over.
Filed under: UFCAll 20 fighters who are stepping into the Octagon on Saturday at UFC 138 first had to step on the scale on Friday at the UFC 138 weigh-ins, and we have the video here at MMAFighting.com.
All 20 fighters who are stepping into the Octagon on Saturday at UFC 138 first had to step on the scale on Friday at the UFC 138 weigh-ins, and we have the video here at MMAFighting.com.
In the main event, middleweights Chris Leben and Mark Munoz had to make the 185-pound limit, with a one-pound buffer for a non-title fight. In the co-main event, bantamweights Brad Pickett and Renan Barão had to make the 135-pound limit, also with a one-pound buffer for a non-title fight.
Sticking with the low key feel of UFC 138, the event’s pre-fight press conference skipped the flashy fighter introductions, swapped Dana White with Marshall Zelaznik, and got right to business. Zelaznik informs us that UFC 138 is a couple hundred seats shy of selling out and has already broken the all-time revenue record for the LG Arena in Birmingham, England. Pretty crazy considering that this is a place that has hosted the likes of Queen, Iron Maiden, David Bowie, and most importantly The Spice Girls. Remember to stop by tomorrow night and check in on our liveblog of the event, and of course thank us for filling up your pockets like they were laundry bags. And have a good weekend, Potato Nation.
-Danga
Sticking with the low key feel of UFC 138, the event’s pre-fight press conference skipped the flashy fighter introductions, swapped Dana White with Marshall Zelaznik, and got right to business. Zelaznik informs us that UFC 138 is a couple hundred seats shy of selling out and has already broken the all-time revenue record for the LG Arena in Birmingham, England. Pretty crazy considering that this is a place that has hosted the likes of Queen, Iron Maiden, David Bowie, and most importantly The Spice Girls. Remember to stop by tomorrow night and check in on our liveblog of the event, and of course thank us for filling up your pockets like they were laundry bags. And have a good weekend, Potato Nation.
Filed under: UFCThe fighters taking part in UFC 138 met the media in England this week for the UFC 138 pre-fight press conference, and we have the video here at MMAFighting.com.
In the main event, Chris Leben and Mark Munoz are trying to make the case…
The fighters taking part in UFC 138 met the media in England this week for the UFC 138 pre-fight press conference, and we have the video here at MMAFighting.com.
In the main event, Chris Leben and Mark Munoz are trying to make the case that they deserve to be contenders for the middleweight title. In the co-main event, the British bantamweight Brad Pickett will have the crowd on his side as he tries to end the 26-fight winning streak of Brazil’s Renan Barao.
The UFC 138 pre-fight press conference video is below.
Say this for UFC bantamweight Brad Pickett: the guy’s not kidding himself.
When asked by Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour if he thought his fight with Renan Barao would be so high up on the UFC 138 main card if the event wasn’t in Pickett’s home country, the British fighter initially replied, “Maybe, maybe not.” Then came a more sober analysis.
“Probably not,” he said. While he’d like to believe that he’s main card material, he added, it sure doesn’t hurt to have the Octagon in your own backyard for one night.
As the former WEC standout gets set to make his UFC debut against the Brazilian Barao, he has reason to hope that a crowd full of his countrymen will help propel him to victory over a foe who Pickett sees as being still slightly untested, despite his prodigious winning streak.
“I’ve been watching his fights — it’s my job to watch people in my weight class fight — and yeah, he’s good,” Pickett said. “He’s very well-rounded. He’s not just one-dimensional. But then it’s also hard to gauge how good he is, because he hasn’t fought, at least in my eyes, top-level competition. He’s beat everyone he has [had] put in front of him. …I believe I’m his toughest fight to date, so maybe after this fight I can tell you if he’s the real deal or not.”
Though Barao hasn’t lost since his professional debut more than six years ago, Pickett pointed out that he’s only recently begun facing well-known fighters like Cole Escovedo, who Barao beat in his Octagon debut at UFC 130. Meanwhile, Pickett has wins over Demetrious Johnson, who recently fought for the UFC bantamweight title, and MMA veteran Ivan Menjivar.
As for where that puts Pickett in relation to current UFC 135-pound champ Dominick Cruz, Pickett isn’t quite sure, he said.
“I beat Demetrious Johnson, he got a title shot. I fought Scott Jorgensen, he beat me and he got a title shot off of beating me. So I’m there and thereabouts, but I’m not one of these people to demand a title shot. All I can do is keep winning in my job, and winning will always put me in a better position.”
Against Barao, Pickett said, the key to winning will be pace and pressure and “break[ing] him mentally.” He said he expects Barao to look to take the fight to the mat “when I hit him hard,” but he isn’t especially concerned about the consequences of trading blows with the Brazilian.
“I don’t worry about his stand-up. Obviously, any punch or kick can knock anyone out if you walk into it in the right way, but his stand-up’s not something I’m too concerned about, to be honest.”
While Pickett stressed that he’s not expecting an easy fight from Barao, “I believe if I perform how I can perform, there’s going to be no trouble with me winning this fight.”
If Pickett does become only the second person to defeat Barao, the win would likely put him at or at least near the top of the relatively thin bantamweight division. From there, a title shot might not be too far off, though of course, as Pickett pointed out, nothing’s guaranteed in MMA.
“If I win this, I go one direction. If I lose this fight, I go in a different direction. My job is go in the right direction and then after this fight, then we can talk about getting a title shot. If I win, and that’s a big if because this sport’s crazy and he’s a tough opponent.”
Say this for UFC bantamweight Brad Pickett: the guy’s not kidding himself.
When asked by Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour if he thought his fight with Renan Barao would be so high up on the UFC 138 main card if the event wasn’t in Pickett’s home country, the British fighter initially replied, “Maybe, maybe not.” Then came a more sober analysis.
“Probably not,” he said. While he’d like to believe that he’s main card material, he added, it sure doesn’t hurt to have the Octagon in your own backyard for one night.
As the former WEC standout gets set to make his UFC debut against the Brazilian Barao, he has reason to hope that a crowd full of his countrymen will help propel him to victory over a foe who Pickett sees as being still slightly untested, despite his prodigious winning streak.
“I’ve been watching his fights — it’s my job to watch people in my weight class fight — and yeah, he’s good,” Pickett said. “He’s very well-rounded. He’s not just one-dimensional. But then it’s also hard to gauge how good he is, because he hasn’t fought, at least in my eyes, top-level competition. He’s beat everyone he has [had] put in front of him. …I believe I’m his toughest fight to date, so maybe after this fight I can tell you if he’s the real deal or not.”
Though Barao hasn’t lost since his professional debut more than six years ago, Pickett pointed out that he’s only recently begun facing well-known fighters like Cole Escovedo, who Barao beat in his Octagon debut at UFC 130. Meanwhile, Pickett has wins over Demetrious Johnson, who recently fought for the UFC bantamweight title, and MMA veteran Ivan Menjivar.
As for where that puts Pickett in relation to current UFC 135-pound champ Dominick Cruz, Pickett isn’t quite sure, he said.
“I beat Demetrious Johnson, he got a title shot. I fought Scott Jorgensen, he beat me and he got a title shot off of beating me. So I’m there and thereabouts, but I’m not one of these people to demand a title shot. All I can do is keep winning in my job, and winning will always put me in a better position.”
Against Barao, Pickett said, the key to winning will be pace and pressure and “break[ing] him mentally.” He said he expects Barao to look to take the fight to the mat “when I hit him hard,” but he isn’t especially concerned about the consequences of trading blows with the Brazilian.
“I don’t worry about his stand-up. Obviously, any punch or kick can knock anyone out if you walk into it in the right way, but his stand-up’s not something I’m too concerned about, to be honest.”
While Pickett stressed that he’s not expecting an easy fight from Barao, “I believe if I perform how I can perform, there’s going to be no trouble with me winning this fight.”
If Pickett does become only the second person to defeat Barao, the win would likely put him at or at least near the top of the relatively thin bantamweight division. From there, a title shot might not be too far off, though of course, as Pickett pointed out, nothing’s guaranteed in MMA.
“If I win this, I go one direction. If I lose this fight, I go in a different direction. My job is go in the right direction and then after this fight, then we can talk about getting a title shot. If I win, and that’s a big if because this sport’s crazy and he’s a tough opponent.”
Renan Barao faced tougher competition than ever before on Saturday at UFC 138, but his winning streak remains.
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