I disagree with everyone on this one. Renan Barao was undefeated for 8 or 9 years. He was a great champion and is a great competitor. He's human...He has one mishap on cutting weight and suddenly everyone doubts his character. The timing was absolutely horrible and put the UFC in a tough spot but I don't think for one second that he did any of this on purpose.
For those that don't know, he said he was cutting weight, sitting in a tub of hot water, got up to fast, blacked out, and when he fell he hit his head. He was taken to the hospital and checked out. He wanted to fight, but medically, they wouldn't clear him.
Not doubting his character and of course he wanted to still fight, but you can't be passing out and still expect to fight. It's not like the docs were blowing it out of proportion. Even if he didn't hit his head he still shouldn't have been able to fight. No one did anything wrong except Renon. Even though he was planning to fight TJ I still think he was scared bc of the beating TJ put on him. Not saying he pulled out bc he was scared, but still I think he was scared which is normal.
Sure he's allowed to make mistakes, but the fact still remains he shouldn't have put himself in the position to where he had to cut so much weight. When you're at the point of passing out from cutting weight then you're so dehydrated that your blood pressure is low enough to pass out. The fact that he was champ for so long and basically undefeated is all the more reason he shouldn't have put himself in that position. Cutting weight sucks, I know, but after a decade of doing it then it should just be second nature at that point.
People that don't make weight aren't obviously in the right mindset and aren't taking their fight serious enough. I'll say it again, he's allowed to make human errors, but its his and his teams job to make DAMN SURE that his weight is where it needs to be so making foolish and armature mistakes such as drastic weight cuts to the point of passing out. A weight cut should NEVER even come close to feeling like you're going to pass out or actually passing out. Sure you're going to feel like shit, but passing out? C'mon man...
Joe Rogan interviewed him right after the fight was called off and he's was pretty harsh to Renon, and rightfully so. He basically called him out for being unprofessional, not taking the fight serious enough, and for doing shit last minute. Good for Rogan for telling him like it is and not sugar coating it. That's exactly what Renon needs. He doesn't need people telling him its okay and sucking his dick bc he passed out.
I really started losing respect for Renon and his team after the TJ loss bc they were making all kinds of BS excuses. He couldn't just admit that he got his ass whipped by a better fighter that night. TJ put on the best performance I've ever seen and there was absolutely nothing wrong with Renon that night. He said that after he got dropped in the first that he wasn't the same in the rest of the fight... Well no shit! That's the point of a fight. You beat the guy senseless until he breaks mentally, but Renon acting like this was something odd. I'm not a fan of his team in general. Jose Aldo is a stud, but he's also a cocky prick and I hope that Mendez puts the same beating on Aldo as TJ did to Renon. If he can stay away from Aldo's power and take him in the later rounds then I think he's got a great chance of winning.
Aldo is also another guy that cuts entirely too much weight and it shows in his cardio. If the fight goes past the third round, Aldo lets off the gas every time, gasses, and coasts to victory every time. Mark Hominick took a beating in the first few rounds when he fought Aldo, but he won the last two rounds and was close to stealing the third round when Aldo started gassing. When you fight at 135-145lbs then your cardio should be ever lasting. I know some fights are super fast paced and you're bound to get tired after a while, but there's really no reason for feather and bantum weight guys to ever get tired. Those two weight classes are some of the most entertaining bc of the simple fact that 90% of those fights are 100mph all 3 or 5 rounds and most of the guys never get tired, nor should they. 135lbs is not big at all, especially for a male, so its not like your heart and cardiovascular system has a lot of mass to keep up with.
Look at Cain Valasquez. The dude is 240lbs and all of his fights are insanely high paced. I'm by no means saying that training and gaining cardio is easy, but If a guy that's 240lbs can go all out for 25 mins then a guy half his size should have absolutely no issues with cardio.
I know cutting weight is a part of fighting and I've got nothing against it, but when your performance suffers directly from your weight cut then you need to move up. It's like saying you're scared to fight guys your size so you're cutting weight to fight smaller guys. Just my opinion.
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