Faber vs. Barao: 3 Things We Learned About Renan Barao

Add one more victory to Renan Barao’s incredible win streak.

The young Brazilian hasn’t tasted defeat since his MMA debut back in 2005, and Saturday night he continued his dominant run with a huge win over one of the biggest names in the sport, Urijah Faber.

The win over Faber not only earned Barao the UFC’s interim bantamweight belt, it solidified his spot as one of the two best fighters in the world at 135 lbs. An eventual matchup with current champion Dominick Cruz will tell us if Barao really is as good as advertised.

Here are three things we learned about the Brazilian at UFC 149:

Renan Barao Is the Real Deal

It wasn’t as dominant as most of his wins, but Renan Barao pretty much had his way with Urijah Faber.

Barao used his length to completely shut down the majority of Faber’s offense, using leg kicks and straight punches to keep “The California Kid” at bay.

The game plan was perfect, as Faber was forced to throw punches from tough distances and was left swinging at air the majority of the time.

Overall, it was a perfect performance by a young fighter who really seems to be coming into his own.

He's Getting Better

Since the moment that Barao entered the UFC Octagon there’s been a ton of hype behind him, but UFC 149 was obviously his coming-out party.

It’s hard to believe that just three fights ago Barao was pushed to the limit by Cole Escovedo in his UFC debut, but since that time Barao has destroyed Brad Pickett and earned hard-fought wins over Faber and Scott Jorgensen.

The talent has always been there for Barao, but against Faber he showed that he can defeat one of the best fighters in the world. He also proved that he was able to buckle down and stick to his game plan in order to beat a fighter with way more big-fight experience.

He Has the Tools to Defeat Dominick Cruz

If last night proved anything, it may have been that the two best lighter weight fighters in the world train together.

Jose Aldo has been dominating the featherweight division (145 lbs) for a while now, and it seems like Barao’s time to take hold of the bantamweight division (135 lbs) is now.

There’s no chance that anyone will call Barao the best in the division until he defeats current champion Dominick Cruz, but after seeing how easily Barao dispatched Faber it could end up being a tough fight to win for “The Dominator.”

Barao has the length to counter Cruz’s long limbs and footwork, and if he could get Cruz to grapple with him, the fight would completely be in Barao’s control.

It will be the toughest fight of his young career, but as long as Barao is able to come up with a game plan to frustrate the champion, he could walk away with the permanent bantamweight title.