Renan Barao may have been thoroughly outclassed on Saturday night, but his coach Andre Pederneiras stated that the Brazilian deserves a rematch – preferably in Brazil.
The Nova Uniao head coach mentioned that the fight would not happen before another five to six months, but was confident in the idea that MMA fans would prefer to see a rematch against T.J. Dillashaw.
“We’re asking for an immediate rematch. It’s fair, and we’re looking a way to do it,” Pederneiras said in an interview to radio show No Mundo da Luta. “It can’t happen in less than five or six months, but I think that’s how long T.J. is going to be out. Everybody wants to see another fight between them, since it was the fight of the night.”
Not only did Pederneiras request an immediate rematch for Barao, he suggested that the fight should take place in Brazil next October.
“The ideal would be bringing this fight to Brazil,” he said. “There’s going to be a big event here in Brazil, apparently in October in Rio de Janeiro. Let’s see is these guys are man enough to fight Barao in his house.”
Even UFC President Dana White was open to the possibility of a rematch between the two competitors, but also suggested that he was interested in seeing Dillashaw rematch Raphael Assuncao, whom he lost a razor thin split decision to last October.
“I want to see both,” White said at the post-fight media scrum. “I’d want to see this rematch. Hell yeah, I’d want to see it. I want to see which Barao shows up for the next fight. I think that’s a great fight.”
When asked to discuss what went wrong in the fight, Pederneiras explained that the crucial moment took place in the opening round when Dillashaw scored the first knockdown with an overhand right. He claims that Barao remained dazzed and confused for the remainder of the fight and was unable to respond to commands from his corner.
“After the first knockdown, Renan couldn’t get into the fight anymore and he went dizzy with every blow,” he said. “Even between the rounds, when we were talking to him, he wasn’t even looking at us. “
Transcription taken from MMAFighting.com.
About the author
