T.J. Dillashaw Talks Renan Barao Rematch: ‘Prepared For Worst, Except It To Be The Same’

UFC bantamweight champion says he knows he needs to expect a better Renan Barao then the fighter he fought previously.

However, the champ thinks the fight will probably go down similarly to their first scrap. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Dillashaw said that of course he has planned new things for this second fight with the former champ, but thinks that Barao will be hindered by his apparent rage going into the fight.

“I gotta expect a different fight. But, you know, I’m thinking it’s going to be the same. But, I gotta prepare for a different Renan Barao. I mean, he’s maybe changed some things up, which I’ve been calculating myself and watching my fight and thinking of what his game plan is going to be to try and beat me, and being ready for it. I can’t underestimate how he’s going to be be. I gotta expect the hardest fight – five round war. And, if it goes my way easily again, then so be it, but I’m going to prepare for the worst.”

“Now that I’ve beat him, he’s got something to prove, and I think it’s going to hinder his performance in the long run. I mean, if he’s going to come out and fight with anger, or the fact that he’s having to disguise being nervous, you know, one of the two. I don’t know what it is but he’s definitely changed who he was. I’ve never seen him talk crap before in any kind of staredowns or in the media, and now I put him in that place which, you know to me it’s nothing but a confidence builder.”

By: Ryan C. Miller | @ryancmiller1630

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