Throughout last week, there seemed to be two repetitive questions surrounding the main event of UFC 173. How can Renan Barao be marketable and is he truly the best pound for pound fighter in the world? Besides Dana White stating a few statistics on his video blog, nobody was really mentioning T.J. Dillashaw at all in the pre-fight discussion
It was rather unfortunate because Dillashaw was one of the best bantamweights in the world before that fight. People can criticize the UFC rankings, which is well justified. Dillashaw was ranked accordingly in the fourth spot. We’ve seen how his striking has evolved under the tutelage of Duane Ludwig. That wasn’t the talk going into the fight though, due to how dominant Barao has been. I’m not going to sit here and crucify the media for making Dillashaw into a complete after thought during the pre-fight media day.
It clearly seemed like he was rushed into the title fight, although it only took about five minutes for everyone to realize that he was ready. After showing steady lateral movement and forcing Barao to chase him, Dillashaw landed a vicious overhand right that dropped Barao to the canvas. The fall couldn’t have been more dramatic, as it seemed like the fight was going to be shortly stopped.
Barao managed to survive, but his issues were evident in the first round besides being nearly finished. Dillashaw’s lateral movement and footwork was excellent from when the bell was rung. He was making Barao chase him, along with changing stances to fluster him. You can tell once again how Ludwig has influenced him into making him a diverse and well-equipped striker.
Eventually in the second round, the speed advantage couldn’t have been more apparent. I’ve never realized how Barao isn’t necessarily that quick, his striking was based more on being more explosive and unpredictable. The speed discrepancy still surprised me greatly, along with Dillashaw’s overall boxing. His hand speed was far more quicker than Barao’s hands. That is why on most occasions, Dillashaw got the better of the exchanges.
Then he began to throw left hooks to the body to stay unpredictable. Even though the second round was Barao’s best round, you had to wonder if his game plan was going to change and he was going to take the fight to the ground. Would he go for broke and try to pull guard or attempt to take down a Division 1 wrestler? That never truly occurred, as he still kept looking to finish Dillashaw on the feet despite the lack of success so far.
The game plan was confusing; along with his tendency to throw his patented spinning back kick. Dillashaw’s continuously showed how well he moved laterally to dodge that kick. Still in the later rounds, Barao continued to throw the kick and it amounted to nothing. I’ll never understand why he kept throwing it because Dillashaw was clearly telegraphing the kick. As unpredictable as he’s proved to be in his career, Barao was becoming predictable and overwhelmed as the fight went on.
Dillashaw continued to land swift one-two combinations and would consistently frustrate Barao by throwing a left head kick. It didn’t necessarily land on a consistent basis, but it kept him guessing. It also goes to show you how in-shape Dillashaw was for this fight, because you didn’t see any decrease on the head kick attempts. Dillashaw didn’t hesitate to throw it in the championship rounds. His footwork once again proved to beneficial towards his striking success. Then you compare it to Barao, who was flat-footed on numerous occasions.
Before the fourth round began, Barao’s corner finally begins to push towards looking for takedowns. Dillashaw’s speed was once again a nuisance and continued to move laterally to give Barao fits. He worked his angles perfectly to avoid even having to defend a takedown. You know your footwork and pace is remarkable, when your opponent can’t even figure out when to shoot in.
This fight was an example of how footwork, speed, and technique can always prevail when facing a fighter, who persists on striking with you. Dillashaw consistently kept moving and threw a variation of several combinations. On the other hand, Barao consistently moved backwards and got away from his signature vicious leg kicks after the second round. The discrepancy of both fighters on the feet was jaw-dropping, after it was highly expected that Barao would dominate towards another title defense.
Barao was supposed to be this unstoppable force, with the flashy highlight reel. Wasn’t Team Alpha Male always bound to come up second best? Those generalities were put to rest on Saturday. In the championship rounds, we saw Dillashaw begin to pick Barao apart with his jab. With Barao constantly moving backwards to dodge, it was an intelligent way to continue to punish him.
I’m hoping Ludwig sheds some light to his genius game plan in future interviews. It would surprise no one, if he noticed how Barao’s movement is poor. As the fifth round began to wind down, Barao went for broke after being unable to catch him on the ground. He began to throw mostly power punches, which never truly looked threatening.
Eventually, Dillashaw landed a clean left high kick, which stunned him. A one-two combination, along with some ground-and-pound later and a new champion was crowned. The most stagnant division in the UFC has finally found new life and has created some serious buzz.
Ludwig cemented his legacy in proving why he was the 2013 coach of the year. He has now helped bring a championship to a team that couldn’t have deserved it more. The list of top-level fighters is endless from Urijah Faber to Joesph Benavidez to Chad Mendes. Despite those prominent names, the first UFC champion out of their camp is someone who lost to John Dodson in two minutes over two-and-half years ago.
Dillashaw rose to the occasion and proved how much any fighter can dramatically change in a matter of a few years. You can’t say enough about how much he has evolved as a striker, after coming in mostly as a wrestler. Ludwig even stated before the fifth round about how Dillashaw was giving out a seminar, except he wasn’t charging Barao anything. How about that for icing on the victory cake?
A potential rematch is looming for his first title defense. It could be a rematch against Barao or Raphael Assuncao, who was the last fighter to defeat him. Both fights would bring a lot of intrigue following this performance. We also officially have our first training camp rivalry in Nova Uniao vs. Team Alpha Male. After Nova Uniao’s dominance in title fights, Alpha Male has finally made this an actual rivalry. As for Dillashaw’s stock, how can anyone not enjoy his style? It couldn’t be more appealing to fans. He always looks to finish fights and mixes his striking up. While he didn’t charge Barao anything, I can happily say that the 50 dollars I spent watching his seminar was well worth the value.
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
