Was Renan Barão ever really THAT good?

[sirmorbach]

After his recent performances, we've seen a lot of threads asking questions along the lines of "whatever happened to Renan Barão?". The answers go from USADA to (fighting) age.

I tend to agree with the second one. 40 fights with 31 years old is no joke.

That being said, both the question and the respective answers all seem to be based on the premise that Barão was "unbeatable" at some point (i.e. his title run).

And yeah, he was good indeed. But I ask you: was he really that good?

I pose this as a question because I'm not yet completely convinced, but I think that (i) the division was not nearly as good when he was the champion as it is now, (ii) he was lucky that Dominick Cruz was out, and while we're at it, (iii) he would most probably never beat Dominick.

I'll make it clear(er): I'm not saying Barão sucks, nor am I ignoring his great run or assuming that when a fighter ages it means that his whole career means nothing.

I'm really trying to ask a question, which I think is a fair one, and I'm open to arguments.

 

[The Natural Born Runner]

I'm so glad you made this thread.

 

[Megatronlee]

Renan was BEATEN so bad his brain dosent work the same anymore so he can no longer fight

 

[SVG]

That camp has taken one huge slide ever since this came along.

http://data:image/png;base64,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

 

[VinceArch]

According to Rogan he was.

 

[VinceArch]

According to Rogan he was.

 

[Megatronlee]

Like he was beaten half to death. Look at JDS. Cain broke his brain too

 

[D4C]

Watch all of his matches and do some fight analysis. Everything else is just speculation and empty words.

 

[BigMuffler]

He was good but not nearly unbeatable, wasn't he struggling with Wineland before the finish? Not sure he was better than Assuncao or a prime Faber, the Faber he fought was already older. And yeah Cruz would probably beat him.

 

[WinZip]

He won 30+ fights in a row and became UFC champ.

Clearly a can

 

[Flash!]

Yeah in that time , but hindsight is 20/20 for how USADA got people.
Shit, look at Robbie lol.

 

[Megalodon]

He was never as good as Aldo but he was the best BW when Cruz was out. He beat all the guys Cruz should have been fighting anyway.

The division is a lot deeper now though.

 

[Verace]

After his recent performances, we've seen a lot of threads asking questions along the lines of "whatever happened to Renan Barão?". The answers go from USADA to (fighting) age.

I tend to agree with the second one. 40 fights with 31 years old is no joke.

That being said, both the question and the respective answers all seem to be based on the premise that Barão was "unbeatable" at some point (i.e. his title run).

And yeah, he was good indeed. But I ask you: was he really that good?

I pose this as a question because I'm not yet completely convinced, but I think that (i) the division was not nearly as good when he was the champion as it is now, (ii) he was lucky that Dominick Cruz was out, and while we're at it, (iii) he would most probably never beat Dominick.

I'll make it clear(er): I'm not saying Barão sucks, nor am I ignoring his great run or assuming that when a fighter ages it means that his whole career means nothing.

I'm really trying to ask a question, which I think is a fair one, and I'm open to arguments.

Im still not convinced conor is any good, yet a bunch of people treat him like it and want to put him in goat discussions and shit

 

[Organic Damage]

lol, Sherdog gonna Sherdog

 

[superpunch]

Urijah Faber is the metric for this.

Throughout his career in the latter WEC and the UFC, he was good enough to beat almost everyone on the roster but was never good enough to beat the 'elite tier' of legends.

The way that Barao humiliated Faber twice proved that he was in that 'elite tier'.

Yeah, Barao was that good.

Does he suck now because of age? USADA? Wear and tear? All of these? Who knows?

But at one time he was that good.

 

[Mr. Hammer]

Pre-USADA he was top 3 p4p.

 

[Mr. Hammer]

Im still not convinced conor is any good

Because you're really dumb.

 

[Krixes]

TJ stole his soul.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

He was good but the bulk of his career was against weaker comp. Once he got to the UFC and USADA became a thing he just couldn't match up.

 

[Verace]

Because you're really dumb.

This guy:

And you are

So easy......... handy bread