TJ Dillashaw: I'm prepared for the worst against Renan Barao
When TJ Dillashaw first met Renan Barao in the ring, one year ago, the American hurt the Brazilian early and dominated him en route to a fifth-round TKO. The result was shocking, but the way Dillashaw managed to so completely handle the then-champion was even more so.
Heading into his rematch with Barao on July 25 in Chicago, Dillashaw says he is preparing for a fight of a different complexion, but he expects things to go the same way as the first time around.
"I gotta expect a different fight," he told Submission Radio.
"But, you know, I'm thinking it's going to be the same. But I gotta prepare for a different Renan Barao. I mean, he's maybe changed some things up, which I've been calculating myself and watching my fight and thinking of what his game plan is going to be to try and beat me, and being ready for it. I can't underestimate how he's going to be be. I gotta expect the hardest fight -- five-round war. And, if it goes my way easily again, then so be it, but I'm going to prepare for the worst."
Barao recently told media members that he gave Dillashaw a death stare when they squared up for photos. The former champion is clearly wound up and upset at Dillashaw for the new champion's criticisms of him over the past year.
Dillashaw says that if Barao gave him a threatening look, he didn't much notice or care.
"It's kinda funny because I've never seen it from him," he said. "Now that I've beat him, he's got something to prove, and I think it's going to hinder his performance in the long run. I mean, if he's going to come out and fight with anger, or the fact that he's having to disguise being nervous, you know, one of the two. I don't know what it is but he's definitely changed who he was. I've never seen him talk crap before in any kind of staredowns or in the media, and now I put him in that place which, you know, to me it's nothing but a confidence builder."
Barao also went on to tell members of the media that he considers Dillashaw to be a clown, not a champion. If that is the case, Dillashaw says, then Barao got beat up by a clown, and shouldn't draw attention to that fact.
"I really didn't think too much [of it]," he said. "I mean, obviously he has to come back with something to stay relevant. If I'm not a champion, then he just got dominated by someone that he doesn't think is a champion. That's kind of funny to me as well. So I think he's just trying to stay relevant, act like he's got a shot in this fight and talk as much crap as possible, you know, which I don't mind because it's going to hype it up more for me."
Dillashaw has defended his bantamweight title once so far. If he beats Barao this summer and continues to dominate the division, he says he'd like to look towards a champion vs. champion superfight.
"I would love to do a champion vs. champion fight," he said.
"That's, like, my next goal. The goal was to become the best in the world in my weight class and I've done it. I need to obviously stay dominant and hold my belt and continue to do so, but I would love to in the future fight champion vs. champion and go up a weight class and do that. That's my main goal now."
