UFC 177: Renan Barao feels that this time he had the ideal camp to face T.J. Dillashaw

Renan Barao thinks that his preparation for his second bout against T.J. Dillashaw has been better then his camp before their first fight, when both fighters had a little less than eight weeks to train. The former UFC Bantamweight champion told Bloody Elbow that he was able to have a complete camp and is confident he'll have a better performance in their rematch at UFC 177 on August 30. T.J. Dillashaw, the new title holder TKO'd Barao in the fifth round of UFC 173, on May 24, and was easily ahead in the score cards before the finish.

"For this fight I had the ideal time, I think that my camp couldn't be better. I'm more focused, I had more time to be ready. I've changed some details in my preparation but my goal will be the same, to go forward. I'll look for the finish as I always do."

Barao reaffirmed that the story of the first fight would be different if he hadn't been knocked down in the first round.

"I think that the fight would be completely different, I started to fight in the auto pilot mode after that blow. I surely was out of it. Between rounds I was asking who was winning, I couldn't follow the commands of my coach, Dede Pederneiras."

Title challenger again, Barao said that he doesn't feel any different now than when he was the champion or before winning the title and also didn't mention any particular change in his training for the rematch. However, he feels that the belt belongs to him and has no plans of leaving the Bantamweight division.

"I'm facing this bout like any other of my career, with a lot of will to win. I'm going forward to bring the fight to him and get back what is mine, the belt and the champion spot. I have work to do in this division, I'm not thinking about going anywhere."

About the recent controversy between fighters of Nova Uniao and Team Alpha Male, Barao prefers to not get involved.

"I don't care about what they say, I don't look for it when I'm using the internet. My only goal is to do my job."

The gap between the announcement from the first fight and the UFC 173 was of 58 days, time that Barao said that was enough at that time, while for the second bout they had 59 days of hiatus. Maybe the former champ was training hard before of the rematch be closed - he was coming from vacation when his camp started before he defend his belt against Dillashaw - but we will only be able to notice any improvement when he step on the octagon.