'With absolute certainty the belt will come back', says Barão, about rematch with Dillashaw

R. Barão (left) meets Dillashaw (right) in the octagon in August. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

About to take revenge against TJ Dillashaw for the UFC bantamweight title, Renan Barao guarantees that he will win and regain the belt. The Brazilian was dethroned by the North American in May, at UFC 173, losing an unbeaten run of nine years and 32 fights in professional MMA.

At the time, Barão suffered a severe knockdown to Dillashaw in the first round, and he could do little to turn things around. In the last period, the North American connected with a high kick and other blows, taking down the Brazilian and winning the belt via technical knockout.

This time, Barão assured that the result of the fight will be different. “The chance [of regaining the belt] is 1000%. I'm very focused. This is my big goal. I'm training a lot. The belt will definitely come back. You can write down what I’m saying”, said the fighter, in an interview on the “Combate” channel website.

Barão celebrated the scheduling of the rematch and admitted that he learned from the experience of the first fight. “Thank God I managed to have this immediate rematch. I'm very happy about this and very motivated to be able to take back what's mine. The desire is now much greater than before. I learned a lot from the defeat. Unfortunately, there was a blow at the beginning, and that dictated the pace of the entire fight. After that blow, I was fighting on automatic. I wasn't the one there. I was airy. I'm absolutely sure that, if it were the other way around, I would have knocked him out in the first round. But unfortunately it wasn’t like that”, he analyzed.

The rematch between Barão and Dillashaw will be the main fight of UFC 177, which will take place on August 30 in Sacramento, California (USA), Dillashaw's hometown. The attraction will also have another title fight: Demetrious Johnson faces Chris Cariaso for the flyweight title.