Barão (photo) is a former UFC bantamweight champion. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
The Brazilian Renan Barao scared everyone when passed out a few hours before the official UFC 177 weigh-in. The native of Rio Grande do Norte, who was quite worn out from excessive weight loss, lost consciousness in the hot tub and ended up hitting his head against the wall. He was hospitalized in the city of Sacramento, but is now back at the hotel hosting the fighters for UFC 177
Without contact with the press, Barão entered the hotel through the back and went straight to his room. Despite this, Burt Watson, UFC coordinator and one of the only ones to have contact with the athlete, revealed the former bantamweight champion is disappointed, but is doing well.
“I saw the Baron, I went to his room, I looked him in the eye and I know he is sad. The important thing is that he is already in his room, resting. It was a complicated day. He is very upset and sad because he thinks he let everyone down, but he is healthy. The most important thing for us is the health of our fighters, and he is healthy”, said Watson on the Combate channel website.
Barão's replacement comes from the preliminary card
to the place of Renan Barao, the UFC acted quickly and selected another bantamweight on the same card: Joe Soto. The former Bellator champion would make his Octagon debut this Saturday against Anthony Birchak on the preliminary card, but was promoted to challenger status just hours before the official weigh-in. As a result, the night's schedule now only has eight fights.
The medical problems with Cejudo and Barão were just the latest chapter in the troubled history of UFC 177. The event underwent several changes to its card, including the change of the former co-main event between Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso for UFC 178, and an event that ended up being cancelled, UFC 176 – which would have José Aldo x Chad Mendes as the main fight.
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