Renan Barao - Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Last Saturday night Renan Barao defeated his 3rd straight opponent in the UFC. It was his 5th straight victory under the Zuffa banner including his WEC appearances. In fact, it was Barao's 18th straight victory after a no contest that interrupted a 10 fight win streak he already had going. Renan Barao has not tasted defeat since his first professional fight in 2005 and that is a grand total of a 29 fight undefeated streak. Now much has been said about the level of some of his competition in those fights, but to go roughly 7 years without a loss given the crazy things that can happen in MMA is astounding. The last time Renan Barao lost a fight Richard Pryor was alive, 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" was the #1 song in America and Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture were cutting weight for their rematch held at UFC 52.

Even after all this, the next step in his career is very much up in the air. There are a few options and all of them have their risks and rewards.

The UFC Bantamweight Title is currently in possession of Dominick Cruz and Cruz's schedule is a little booked up right now. He will be coaching the upcoming season of The Ultimate FIghter opposite Urijah Faber and subsequently defending his belt against "The California Kid". Faber was awarded a coaches slot and a trilogy fight with Cruz after massacring Brian Bowles at UFC 139. The show will begin sometime in the spring of this year and will take three months to complete. After the title fight the participants will need a few months off so that means the next open title fight time period is roughly in the last 2 months of 2012.

Barao really cannot afford to sit out 9-10 months at this stage of the game. He is still a new face to most fans and is in a division that is relatively new to most fans as well. Exposure is crucial and the more he gets the better his star can shine. After thoroughly dominating Scott Jorgensen on Saturday night and steamrolling Brad Pickett in November, he certainly deserves a shot at the champ now. I feel he deserves a shot far more than Faber does but Urijah is one of the most popular guys in the company so I understand how that factors into the equation. If Cruz beats him again, it cements him as the king of 135 in the eyes of everyone especially more casual fans.

So it would seem like Barao should take another fight to keep busy and visible, but against who? There are very few fighters that he could face that would not be a step down in competition for him (Barao is currently ranked 7th). Cruz and Faber are ranked #1 and #2, Joseph Benavidez (#3) is moving to Flyweight, the aforementioned Bowles is at #4, Jorgensen 5th and Demetrious Johnson (also moving to Flyweight) is 6th. This really only leaves the option of Brian Bowles for Barao to take on. The beating Urijah Faber put on him has certainly taken away a lot of the luster that a victory over Bowles would have earned someone previously. Even a recognizable guy like Miguel Torres is a worse option than that due to the tepid nature of his recent performances, getting fired and re-hired over "Suprise Van-Gate" and the fact that Torres has a huge task upcoming against Michael McDonald in mid April. If "Mayday" wins that fight, he should not be put up against Barao because they would derail one of their most promising stars regardless of the outcome.

Whatever Renan Barao decides to do in the next few months will be crucial to the future of his title aspirations and career. All he really has to do is what he has been doing for the last 6+ years and that is win. The only problem is that he is going to be facing nothing but the elite of the division from here on out and a loss now could set him back for a significant amount of time. The risks and rewards are there with all options but I think vanishing from the eyes of the fans might be th riskiest of all.