Rejuvenated Ex-UFC Champ Renan Barao Wants to Participate in 2022 PFL Season

Once referred to by Dana White as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA in 2014, former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao is experiencing what he calls a rebirth in the sport.

Some 19 months after five consecutive losses prompted his UFC release, Barao is hungry to make a comeback.

"The most important thing for a fighter is to be happy. I had the best structure, the best sparring and best trainers in the world at American Top Team, but I was not happy. It was necessary for a rival to extend his hand to me,” Barao told Sherdog.com. "There was a big local rivalry between me and Patricio [Freire]; everyone in our city (Natal) wanted to see us face each other. Last year, I saw him say in an interview that he would love to help me return to being the great champion I once was, inviting me to return to Natal and train at Pitbull Brothers gym.

“I immediately asked a friend to put me in contact with Patricky and returned to Natal. I was received with open arms at Pitbull Brothers and my life totally changed.”

Barao was slated to return against Bobby Moffett at Taura MMA 12 in November, but concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of that event. Now, “The Baron is looking for another opportunity. Currently, the 34-year-old Brazilian is eyeing a spot in the Professional Fighters League 2022 season.

"I would love to fight in the PFL featherweight grand prix in 2022. I love that format.” Barao said. “Today if I had invitations from the three largest organizations, I wouldn't think twice about choosing the PFL.”

Despite his recent struggles, Barao still owns a 34-9 career mark in MMA. The Brazilian wants to make it clear that he has no hard feelings toward the UFC or Dana White.

“The other day I was on Instagram Live and Dana entered and said ‘Hello my boy.’ We always had a good relationship. Let’s just say I don’t owe anything to UFC and the UFC owes nothing to me,” he said.

Barao’s only bad memory from his UFC tenure is the difficult weight cut he often endured to reach the bantamweight limit.

"That was where I lost my love for fighting,” he said. “When I saw Deiveson [Figueiredo] in his last fight against [Brandon] Moreno, I saw myself. We have basically the same style. I have absolutely no doubt that his performance dropped because of the weight-cut process. Someone must tell him to go up to bantamweight, otherwise he will lose the most important thing for a fighter — love — and shorten his career.”

When it comes to the current state of the UFC’s bantamweight division, Barao sees Petr Yan as the real champion. The Russian lost the title at UFC 259 when he was disqualified for landing an illegal knee against Aljamain Sterling this past March.

“He [Yan] was winning that fight. Sterling as champion was ‘fake news’ in my opinion, and [Yan] will show that in the rematch.”

Barao sees another opponent as the most serious threat to Yan at 135 pounds.

"I think Cory Sandhagen’s game is a difficult matchup for Yan,” Barao said.

While he awaits the call for his next fight, Barao splits time between jiu-jitsu classes at his own academy and enjoying the support of his new teammates.

“I'm really impressed with the amount of talent Pitbull Brothers has in every single area,” he said. “The level of sparring and the quality of trainers is very high. It is definitely possible to be happy being close to your family and also be well trained. The fans will see a reborn Barao when I return.”