DId anyone else think Barao looked off?

I hate to take away from TJ's fantastic performance, but I had the sense Barao was off. I wonder if he maybe had an injury or something coming in. Did anyone else get this impression.

 

I think it had a lot to do with TJ punching him in the face really hard.

 

Yeah its almost like he was nearly put to sleep in the first round.

 

no need for excuses.
Dillashaw fought the perfect fight.

 

No. He lost fair and square. Tj had his number. Barao is still up there though.

 

TJ threw him off with his movement and angles

 

Getting your ass kicked will sometimes take you off your game.

 

yep.

 

Barao def underestimated him.
"He's not a striker"

 

Well getting the beating instead of delivering it certainly has a different look to it

 

This!

 

No, he looked great, definitely able to implement his game plan, which consisted of thoroughly getting his ass kicked for 22 minutes then getting TKO'd leaving no doubt in his inferiority.

 

Before he started catching a beating, he looked the same as always. He was always flat footed like that.

 

Yeah, he was getting pummeled

 

TJ's speed made him look slow.

 

I think Barao was largely out of it after round 1. He was stiff as a board at one point when he got dropped and hit by follow up punches. Not many people can recover from that and win. There was no way he could regain his bearings with Dillashaw bouncing around and hitting him in the face.

 

Nobody looks like themself when they're getting their ass kicked

 

He probably never fully recovered from almost getting KTFO in the first round. Plus he took a lot more good shots after that.

 

You can't judge Barao's performance based on what happened after he got knocked down. The question is why he got knocked down in the first place. And the strange thing is, it wasn't a very clever, intricate set-up. TJ feinted low with his lead hand, then delivered a straight cross to the chin. There was no crazy footwork, no Ali shuffle.

The punch that pretty much decided the fight (taking nothing away from TJ's performance throughout the fight) was nothing spectacular. So you have to wonder why it landed on Barao.

If Barao was dealing with some kind of injury or illness, we would have known about it. He's a Brazilian, for God's sake.

 

Pretty much this^. Barao was on autopilot after he got knocked down (and almost finished) in the first round.