renan barao vs. jeremy Stephens, what the hell happens?

[shortlefthook]

This is one of the hardest fights i have ever tryed to play out in my head.
Ussually i can picture fights and exchanges based on styles, of course im not always right, but allot of fight the story is clear (maia and brown, jacare vs belfort, i imagined both fights going like that for the most part)
But when i try and picture what will happen when barao and stephens fight, its very hard and i see it going both ways without any side to lean on.
I have some big things on both sides that skew my opinion.

Renan barao is going to be quite a bit smaller than stephans, who is a Decent size lw, and large fw.
renan barao is a kind of bigger bw, and kind of a smaller fw imo.
I mean the jeremys has a WW OR MW dome peice on a stocky 5"8 frame.
While renan has a way smaller head and over all skeletal structure and the power difference will show.
BUT renan has the speed and overall more crisp striking and does well against more plodding targets like Stephens, but when i see tj rock barao, i lean back towards Stephens.
Then i see barao picking stephans apart cause he has so much more weapons, and back towards barao.

Lazy summary-

I guess the big variables, how will he handle stephans power?

How will stephans handle the speed and wide arsenal?

Who you got? And why?

Is this the biggest head size difference next to cote vs cowboy thats going to happen, or tito vs anyone? (srs,lol)

 

[Arm Barbarian]

If Stephens catches him clean, its lights out

 

[Ballsack Mcgee]

Bad style match up for Renan. Stevens can take it and dish it out. Renan has looked like shit since TJ beat him down the first time. His power won't translate well here and his speed and movement are his only hope

 

[KONE]

Barao by decision, but wouldn't be surprised if Stephens cracked the fuck out of him. He hits considerably hard.

 

[shortlefthook]

If Stephens catches him clean, its lights out

Very true, its like that with pretty much everyone that fight stephans but when i watch holloway vs Stephens for some reason i can see barao doing something similar, but then i can see stephans shutting the lights off, there is no clear winner in my mind, very hard fight to bet on.

 

[SelfSufficient]

I could be wrong but Barao has looked broken ever since that first TJ fight. Hopefully he can get back in the mix and make 135 a bit more interesting. I'd like to see him versus Cruz.

 

[Big_Chief_Stove]

Hopefully winner fights Chad Mendes

 

[Ninjarobby]

I can see Barao trying to stick and move, using his speed and kicking advantage. Mixing in some take downs and finding a submission on the ground. I'll go with that as my prediction, however I can totally see Stephens landing flush and putting Barao to sleep.

Barao by sub

 

[shortlefthook]

I could be wrong but Barao has looked broken ever since that first TJ fight. Hopefully he can get back in the mix and make 135 a bit more interesting. I'd like to see him versus Cruz.

I dont think he returns to 35 unless stephans kos him

 

[Large Hound 77]

old barao wins easy.... this broken version could get fucked up and early...

 

[Andy Anderson]

stephans doesn't do well @145. Barao by decision

 

[Shotcy]

I can see Barao trying to stick and move, using his speed and kicking advantage. Mixing in some take downs and finding a submission on the ground. I'll go with that as my prediction, however I can totally see Stephens landing flush and putting Barao to sleep.

Barao by sub

That's my opinion.

 

[Spookv]

Tough as they are both aggressive strikers who are always on the offensive. 50/50 I think someone's going out. Max and Tj both showed a way to beat them.

 

[TC999]

I think Barao will use a lot of leg kicks to slow Stephens down, play the matador and pick up the decision.

Hoping Stephens catches him early and it turns into a bit of a war.

 

[Discjockeyshtud]

Dunno what happens but cant wait to find out, im pullin for Stephens

 

[hydro481]

Not sure. I wanna see how Barao does at 145 first. He might be reborn like Rumble. I think skillwise he matches up well with a lot of FWs.

 

[Timurd123]

If Barao looks like the shell hes looked like in his last 3 fights he will lose no doubt
But maybe not having to cut all that weight will work to his advantage and he'll have some of his speed and explosiveness back

 

[TobikanJudan94]

Can't wait to see this one. Barao is faster and can stick and move his way to victory but Stephens can KO him if he catches him clean just once. Awesome matchup.

 

[Codpiece]

Not sure. I wanna see how Barao does at 145 first. He might be reborn like Rumble. I think skillwise he matches up well with a lot of FWs.

Same, I actually think the extra 10lbs will be good for Renan, he always looked like crap at weigh ins and it was a factor in his later 135lbs matches, I think.


I really wanted to compliment you on your AV - MotaRonda is awesome. Where'd you find that? If you made it yourself, kudos.

 

[MachidaNo1Fan]

Stephens will break him.