Coach: Renan Barao Didn’t Have Enough Time Between Fights For Weight Cut
UFC 177 got turned upside down this weekend when Renan Barao was forced to drop out of the main event against T.J. Dillashaw. A lot of blame has been put on the former champion and he has been criticized for not making weight. UFC president Dana White revealed yesterday that Barao would not be making any money for pulling out this weekend and advised the former champion to consider moving up a weight class.
According to Barao’s coach Andre Pederneiras; that’s not actually necessary. Barao was pulled from UFC 177’s main event after he blacked out just prior to the weigh-ins when he became light-headed. However, Pederneiras doesn’t think it was his fighters weight cut that was the problem. Speaking to Brazilian website Combate, Pederneiras revealed that Barao was just two pounds off the 135 pound limit.
The renowned coach believes the 27-year old has not given his body enough time to rest by trying to fight three times in the span of six months. Check out what Barao’s coach had to say:
“There were two pounds left to make 135 and it was still early here in Sacramento, around 1p.m., and he just had to go down to the arena around 3p.m.. We started the first rounds at the tub and, after approximately 20 minutes, when Barao was leaving the tub, he completely fainted. When he was going down, I held him, but he had so much cream on him, (he slipped) and his head touched the wall. We laid him on the ground but, from that moment on, he stayed out for a long time. That made us really scared.”
Weight cutting in MMA has become quite a controversial topic, and the recent death of more than one fighter abroad has really opened our eyes to the dangers of it. The truth is that Barao was the highest level example (in recent time) of a botched weight cut. As it turned out, he is OK for now, although considerably out of pocket. His coach continued:
At the same time, we called UFC’s doctor and they called an ambulance. When the paramedics came to our room, they checked Barao’s vital signs and decided to take him to the hospital to analyze the situation better. So they had no other option but to give him serum. When he had to go to the hospital, the UFC had to cancel the fight immediately. It was UFC’s option, and based on Barao’s situation, I saw no way how he could fight. We didn’t want this to happen because Barao trained really hard for three months for this fight.”
“People say he should fight at featherweight. I know he’s big for 135, but we have the support of doctors and nutritionists, so I don’t see why changing divisions. What I see is that he needs more time between fights so he doesn’t have to do training camps for five-round fights one after another. His body really needs some rest. It’s the first time that it happens with me in 18 years. I’ve been following athletes for a long time and I’ve never had any athlete fainting and being removed from a fight because of it.”
That’s a better excuse than when Barao blamed his withdrawal from purely getting up too quickly but it still doesn’t make up for the fact that he could have killed the entire UFC 177 card, as well as himself. If he couldn’t physically make the weigh cut, he shouldn’t have tried it. As a coach, Pedernaires is also partly to blame.
At this level, everyone should know their recovery times, and this whole mess could’ve been avoided. As it stands, UFC president Dana White doesn’t want Barao at 135 anymore, he lost a paycheck, and also a title shot. What do you think is next for the embattled former champion?
