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This Saturday, T.J. Dillashaw is out to silence his critics as he defends his title in a rematch against No. 1 contender Renan Barao.
Dillashaw shocked the world back in May with a dominant performance over Barao, a fighter who had not seen defeat in n…
This Saturday, T.J. Dillashaw is out to silence his critics as he defends his title in a rematch against No. 1 contender Renan Barao.
Dillashaw shocked the world back in May with a dominant performance over Barao, a fighter who had not seen defeat in nine years.
With a desire to move up in the pound-for-pound rankings and capture a belt in another weight class, Dillashaw sounds off on what we can expect from him come Saturday night at UFC 177.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
UFC 177 plays host to the bantamweight rematch between TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao.
Dillashaw shocked the MMA world with a stellar performance that led to a finish of Barao at UFC 173. Dillashaw became the first Team Alpha Male member to win a UFC cha…
UFC 177 plays host to the bantamweight rematch between TJ Dillashaw and Renan Barao.
Dillashaw shocked the MMA world with a stellar performance that led to a finish of Barao at UFC 173. Dillashaw became the first Team Alpha Male member to win a UFC championship, and now he finds himself with the extra duties of being a champion.
The 10-fight card will hit Sacramento, California, this weekend, but before punches begin to fly the fighters have to step on the scale to make weight.
The weigh-ins take place Friday evening at 7 p.m. ET. Bleacher Report will have complete coverage of the proceedings.
UFC 177 Fight Card
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It’s only been three months since T.J. Dillashaw shocked the MMA world and dethroned Renan Barao. However, the elite bantamweights are already set to meet again on Saturday, with Dillashaw defending the 135-pound belt this time around.
At UFC 173,…
It’s only been three months since T.J. Dillashaw shocked the MMA world and dethroned Renan Barao. However, the elite bantamweights are already set to meet again on Saturday, with Dillashaw defending the 135-pound belt this time around.
At UFC 173, Dillashaw demolished Barao over four rounds before stopping the Brazilian with strikes in the fifth stanza. With Barao being previously unbeaten inside the Octagon, it was an outcome nobody but Dillashaw and his teammates at Team Alpha Male could have seen coming.
The quick turnaround for this rematch has many wondering what Barao can possibly do to close the gap that was evident between him and Dillashaw only a few months ago. Let us examine what Barao can do to reclaim his crown and also what Dillashaw should attempt to do in order to repeat the success he had in May.
T.J. Dillashaw: Start Strong and Get Renan Barao Discouraged
Because he beat Barao so badly the first time around, Dillashaw isn’t going to want to stray too much from the approach he brought into that meeting.
Dillashaw: “The pressure is on him (Barao). He’s gotta come back from that performance. He’s gotta change his game plan up.”
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) August 28, 2014
What Dillashaw will want to focus on is picking up where he left off three months ago and doing so quickly. Should he get out to an early lead or even rock the challenger in the opening round, Dillashaw may be able to get into Barao‘s head and take the fight out of the Brazilian early on.
If Barao loses the first round convincingly, he could start thinking that Dillashaw simply has his number and that he’s about to be in for the same treatment he received back in May. However, a competitive opening frame or slow start from Dillashaw could allow Barao‘s hope to build.
Confidence is key in combat sports, and Dillashaw can’t give Barao a reason to have any.
Renan Barao: Move Laterally and Attempt Takedowns
Prior to UFC 173, nobody had been able to give Barao much trouble in any area. Under striking coach Duane Ludwig’s guidance, Dillashaw was able to find a significant hole in the Brazilian’s defense, though.
Barao tends to get a bit wild with his striking, which has worked to his benefit at times, but it leaves an opening for counters. Dillashaw moved brilliantly in all directions and picked apart Barao, who also revealed a tendency to throw only one or two punches in succession when he fails to land.
Clearly, Barao needs to throw something different at Dillashaw when standing on Saturday.
The former champion should avoid rushing straight forward and might succeed by sitting back and countering Dillashaw more often this time around. While that was Dillashaw‘s game plan the last time these two met inside the Octagon, the champion will take risks on occasion.
In his UFC debut against John Dodson, Dillashaw got caught being too aggressive, as The Magician scored a knockout by moving laterally and landing a counter left hand.
Barao should also look to take Dillashaw down at least a couple of times on Saturday. With 14 career submissions, Barao is strongest on the ground, but he did not attempt a single takedown against Dillashaw at UFC 173.
Dillashaw has never been taken down in his UFC career and has not been submitted in an MMA bout, but that doesn’t mean Barao should ignore the strongest part of his offensive arsenal. That’s not to say Barao will submit Dillashaw should he get this fight to the canvas, but one takedown could be all the challenger needs to alter the titleholder’s stand-up approach.
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Get excited this weekend! UFC 177 is coming your way on pay-per-view, so get ready to shell out some hard-earned dough to watch a title fight and other fun scraps.
OK, enough being Mr. Happy. Let’s face it: UFC 177 is not that good. In fact, it should …
Get excited this weekend! UFC 177 is coming your way on pay-per-view, so get ready to shell out some hard-earned dough to watch a title fight and other fun scraps.
OK, enough being Mr. Happy. Let’s face it: UFC 177 is not that good. In fact, it should be a tax write-off.
However, if you are like me and have an addiction to MMA that cannot be cured by a 12-step program, you will be tuning in. The fights will in fact be good bouts and excite you, should you choose to choose to watch.
So, for your entertainment, I have put out the metaphorical Bat Symbol to the rest of our Bleacher Report staff to make some predictions. Joining me as always will be Sean Smith, Craig Amos, James MacDonald and Scott Harris to walk you through the fights on Saturday night.
Recently, UFC President Dana White was named the 8th biggest sleazeball in all of professional sports by GQ magazine, placing just behind War Machine and just ahead of Lance Armstrong. While we’ve had our barbs with The Baldfather in the past, even we think it might be a little much to lump him in with the likes of a woman-beating multiple felon and a steroid-abusing sociopath who built his entire empire on a throne of deceit and manipulation.
I mean, sure, DW may fly off the handle and do something detrimental to the sport every now and again, and he may treat any media member who has the balls to call him out for doing so like a hostile witness in a murder trial, but for the most part, he seems relatively harmless for a multi-millionaire in charge of (what was once) the world’s fastest growing sport, right guys? (*narrowly ducks beer bottle*)
Just take a look at the UFC 177 Danavlog — which grants us a behind-the-scenes look at the drama-filled evening of UFC 175 — if you don’t believe me. Whether he’s informing Matt Mitrione that his fight with Stefan Struve had been cancelled at the last minute, bitching out Joe Rogan for his infamous “f-up” during Ronda Rousey‘s post interview, or simply posing for photos with fans, White handles it all with the grace of someone who definitely wouldn’t drive a railroad spike through a dog’s head to intimidate a rival promoter, unlike some of his former peers.
Recently, UFC President Dana White was named the 8th biggest sleazeball in all of professional sports by GQ magazine, placing just behind War Machine and just ahead of Lance Armstrong. While we’ve had our barbs with The Baldfather in the past, even we think it might be a little much to lump him in with the likes of a woman-beating multiple felon and a steroid-abusing sociopath who built his entire empire on a throne of deceit and manipulation.
I mean, sure, DW may fly off the handle and do something detrimental to the sport every now and again, and he may treat any media member who has the balls to call him out for doing so like a hostile witness in a murder trial, but for the most part, he seems relatively harmless for a multi-millionaire in charge of (what was once) the world’s fastest growing sport, right guys? (*narrowly ducks beer bottle*)
Just take a look at the UFC 177 Danavlog — which grants us a behind-the-scenes look at the drama-filled evening of UFC 175 — if you don’t believe me. Whether he’s informing Matt Mitrione that his fight with Stefan Struve had been cancelled at the last minute, bitching out Joe Rogan for his infamous “f-up” during Ronda Rousey‘s post interview, or simply posing for photos with fans, White handles it all with the grace of someone who definitely wouldn’t drive a railroad spike through a dog’s head to intimidate a rival promoter, unlike some of his former peers.
As a matter of fact, maybe we’ve been wrong about ol’ Dana all this time. For Christ’s sake, look how he recently handled being called a bitch on Twitter. HAS SOMEONE HIJACKED YOUR SOUL, BALDFATHER?!!
Is it possible that Dana White’s not actually that bad of a guy, and that we’ve been the assholes this entire time? And by “we” I mean, like, the collective MMA community. Certainly not CagePotato. We are rebels without a cause and can therefore do no wrong. We’re cowboys, on a steel horse we ride. Wanted (Waaaanteeeddd!!) dead or alive.
What was I talking about again? Oh right, the UFC 177 Danavlog, which, true to Dana’s words, is one of the more powerful vlogs that has been released so far. In it, you will also find a heartbroken Matt Mitrione consoling an even more heartbroken Stefan Struve, Uriah Hall (rightfully) screaming like a bitch while having his broken toe put back in place, and a closer look at Ronda Rousey’s nasty gash. (I’m referring to the one she suffered in her fight with Alexis Davis, you perverts.)
Check it out above, then let us know if we should continue our War on Whitey (phrasing) in the comments section.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
When the mad scientists at Zuffa headquarters fired-up their matchmaking supercomputer months ago and asked it to synthesize an awesome card for UFC 177, the machine huffed and puffed, spit out reams of paper an…
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
When the mad scientists at Zuffa headquarters fired-up their matchmaking supercomputer months ago and asked it to synthesize an awesome card for UFC 177, the machine huffed and puffed, spit out reams of paper and then said in its creepy sentient computer voice: “Optimum main event: Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson.”
That’s how they book these cards, right?
Anyway, it was a nice idea.
We all know what happened: The Jones-Gusty rematch eventually got pushed back to UFC 178. The UFC tried to throw Demetrious Johnson vs. Chris Cariaso on this Saturday’s card, but then Gustafsson got injured and Jones got injured and Johnson vs. Cariaso, too, got moved to UFC 178.
And so here we are, with a version of UFC 177 headlined by a bantamweight title rematch between T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barao. It’s a fight card that on paper threatens to be one of the worst of 2014 and not much better news is expected at the box office.
Still, that’s not going to stop Bleacher Report lead MMA writers Chad Dundas (that’s me, y’all) and Jonathan Snowden from making some bold predictions.
Set your bold-predicting supercomputers to stun and let’s go …
