Can you make an argument that Barao is the Bantamweight goat?

sadowolf said:
Funny you say that, because before TJ beat him the UFC was marketing Barao was the #1 P4P fighter in the world haha. There were a decent amount of people parroting that notion as well. I wasn't one of them but I certainly didn't think TJ would handle him so thoroughly.

Even when he was on his run and was the man, he had holes in his game that none of his opponents had the right combination of skills to exploit until TJ. McDonald showed that a hard puncher with decent fundamentals in the pocket can take advantage of his lack of head movement and rock him badly, but his own lack of speed and rhythm manipulation made him easy to figure out. Wineland confused him early with his rhythm manipulation but lacked the defense and exhibition of fundamentals to really capitalize before Barao caught him off guard. TJ came with all those positives and none of those negatives, and Barao had no answer. Since then it seems to be a combination of the weight cut, his faults being exposed in a big way, and TJ possibly breaking him that has caused him to nosedive. I think before TJ there was maybe an argument to be made that he was the GOAT or shaping up to be (I still would've gone Cruz), but that argument fell apart starting with the first beating he took from TJ.
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any1 that is the best thing since sliced bread is p4p #1 lol.
 
Gambit MMA said:
any1 that is the best thing since sliced bread is p4p #1 lol.
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For sure. I thought it was interesting with Barao though because as far as I recall that's the first time they touted a smaller guy as the best P4P. And he immediately not just lost, but got destroyed by a guy people didn't even think deserved the title shot haha. I really wanted there to be a P4P curse in the UFC where as soon as they declare someone #1 they badly lose their next fight haha.
 
sadowolf said:
For sure. I thought it was interesting with Barao though because as far as I recall that's the first time they touted a smaller guy as the best P4P. And he immediately not just lost, but got destroyed by a guy people didn't even think deserved the title shot haha. I really wanted there to be a P4P curse in the UFC where as soon as they declare someone #1 they badly lose their next fight haha.
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surely aldo had to be mentioned as p4p #1 especially when anderson lost and was inactive (post 2013) and when gsp left (post 2013). id have to look at sherdog rankings and shit like that.

pretty much in 2014-2015 it was either aldo or bones, with barao prob being behind those 2 until tj wrecked him.
 
It’s interesring because I remember the hype and mystique around Baroa.

But like all older fighters, that is long gone.

I appreciate the candid responses, and am still curious how many other hardcore fans have had their views on Baroa changed since the first TJ fight

Especially if anyone can be intellectual honest and has a good memory to remember what they used to think vs now
 
Baroa was All-time GOAT...Barao was awesome until USADA..
 
didnt even notice the title

"baroa"
 
Gambit MMA said:
surely aldo had to be mentioned as p4p #1 especially when anderson lost and was inactive (post 2013) and when gsp left (post 2013). id have to look at sherdog rankings and shit like that.

pretty much in 2014-2015 it was either aldo or bones, with barao prob being behind those 2 until tj wrecked him.
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I'm not 100% on it but I don't think they'd ever specifically declared Aldo #1 P4P prior to Barao. Before him they always seemed to stick with Anderson as their go-to. And come to think of it, this was even before Anderson lost the belt, because I remember thinking it was super weird and seemingly desperate for them to suddenly announce Barao as the P4P best, and wondering why he'd suddenly surpassed Anderson in their books. It was like the only reason they gave him that title was because they didn't think anyone would care about the fight with TJ otherwise haha.

And I'm strictly talking UFC hype material; Aldo was definitely mentioned in P4P talks before Barao was among fans and the media. I wouldn't doubt that if you go back to early-mid 2013 you'll probably see Aldo's name higher than Barao's on sites like this one.
 
sadowolf said:
I'm not 100% on it but I don't think they'd ever specifically declared Aldo #1 P4P prior to Barao. Before him they always seemed to stick with Anderson as their go-to. And come to think of it, this was even before Anderson lost the belt, because I remember thinking it was super weird and seemingly desperate for them to suddenly announce Barao as the P4P best, and wondering why he'd suddenly surpassed Anderson in their books. It was like the only reason they gave him that title was because they didn't think anyone would care about the fight with TJ otherwise haha.

And I'm strictly talking UFC hype material; Aldo was definitely mentioned in P4P talks before Barao was among fans and the media. I wouldn't doubt that if you go back to early-mid 2013 you'll probably see Aldo's name higher than Barao's on sites like this one.
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makes sense, cuz ufc never liked aldo lol. just after aldo beat stephens dana for example said aldo deserves to be in goat talks and doesnt get mentioned enough. ufc never liked him, they wouldnt let him go fight pettis cuz he woulda been 2 weight champ and they he doesnt sell a lot of ppv's. ufc was just waiting for him to lose lol

he never got the respect he deserved until 2014-2015 then he was p4p 1 or 2 depending on if u ranked him or bones ahead of the other, and even then it wasnt much. ariel's show last week or maybe the one 2 weeks ago he was asking people who the goat was and didnt mention aldo at all. he mentioned cormier and mighty mouse but didnt mention aldo and even cruz, who i would put ahead of at least mighty mouse
 
Has no case at all over Dom or TJ

You could have him 3rd tho. Personally I'd have Miguel 3rd, Barao 4th, Faber 5th
 
Definitely not. He lost badly to TJ Dillashaw twice, whom now has arguably built up a greater resume than Barao overall, and hasn't been the same since. Then you have Dominick Cruz, Cody Garbrandt. The latter still has a lot to accomplish but he's already well on his way.
 
I think right now if there's any one who has a good argument for BW goatlyness it would have to be Cruz, though at the moment even that is somewhat in flux considering him, TJ, and Garbrandt have all traded wins against each other. We will need to have more fights to see who ultimately comes out on top of that triad, though with the way all three of those guys seem to have a habit of inconsistency in showing up healthy for fights, it's also possible that the question might not ever get a definitive answer.
 
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Brock Tober said:
I think my first account here was 2003. Long time ago.
Never liked Baroa, also never seen anyone fall so fast.
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Hendricks? Dan Hardy?


On topic: No, I never considered Barao to be a top guy P4P. Pretty sure Rogan was saying he was #1 after his defence against Wineland, but that was ridiculous. He was big and pretty powerful and looked set to reign over his division for a while though. Virtually no one was picking TJ before their match, including me.

He can’t really be argued to be BW GOAT either. Cruz has better wins and Barao has had some bad, bad losses. TJ is close to being BW GOAT and is well ahead of Barao too.
 
Torres and Barao are similar in the fact that their great records were forgotten when inferior competition went away.

Especially at these light weight classes where even in 2018, ufc- Bellator trying to facilitate top talent into their companies
 
Individualthoughtpatterns said:
They were good and meaningful at the time. The division just has new and better fighters now.
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Couple years from now I guarantee people will be saying the same about the fighters today that buddy’s saying about Faber, wineland, McDonald, etc
 
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