Renan Barao Says He’s Not Scared Of Fighting Featherweights

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Renan Barao (33-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) spoke about next featherweight fight and his loss against Jeremy Stephens. He will fight Philippe Nover (11-6-1 MMA, 1-4 UFC) tonight at UFC Fight Night 95. It happens at the Nilson Nelson Auditorium in Brasilia, Brazil, airing on FOX Sports 1 after preliminary fights on UFC Fight Pass. Here are highlights:

On his attitude while competing at 135: “I think it wasn’t even a matter of not wanting to talk – I was just feeling very bad. My mouth was dry, my feet were swollen. I tried to be kind, but we’re human beings, and we make mistakes. With the cut, you could see I could barely talk during fight week. I couldn’t recover well. Two minutes into the fight you could see my body was stressed, tired. Before, it was a major difficulty – we signed for a fight and I immediately thought ‘Damn, I have to lose weight again.’ I wasn’t thinking about the fight, or the specific training anymore. I could only focus on the scale and that was getting in the way. And it all changed.”

On his loss to Jeremy Stephens: “It was a great fight, a tough fight that many thought I won – including me. It could have gone either way. But it was a tough, good fight. I think that fight was about details, I was doing well. I think I wore myself out a little bit there on the clinch, pressuring him. Maybe being a little smarter now will come a long way. It was just the beginning, I think I’m still going to have great battles in this division.”

On Nover saying he might have trouble with bigger fighters: “I think he can say whatever he wants. I believe I fought (Stephens) toe-to-toe, like everyone saw, and I can fight anyone, including the bigger guys. I’m not scared of toughness. I’m relaxed, I’m well-prepared, I’m training everything, in all areas, and I will certainly do my best.”