Tonight there was a usurper to the throne in the UFC Bantamweight division and that usurper’s name was TJ Dillashaw. It isn’t that everyone underestimated TJ Dillashaw as much as everyone valued Renan Barao as the Bantamweight Champion. Sure, Dana White has been tossing around the words “pound-for-pound” when it comes to Barao and none of us had taken it very seriously, but we’ve all seen what Renan Barao has done in the UFC Bantamweight division thus far.
So him being completely dominated for five rounds and then knocked out seemed impossible.
Seemed impossible, because, you see, that is precisely what happened at UFC 173. TJ Dillashaw had dropped Barao in round one. Yes, round one. That is where things went wrong for Barao and it felt like he never got back on track after that setback. Dillashaw kept the pressure and kept looking for the finish until it finally came to him later in the fifth and final round. It was crazy, but TJ Dillashaw had not only defeated Renan Barao, but he made Renan Barao look mortal, frail, unlike we’d ever seen before.
So all hail the new king of the UFC Bantamweight Champion, TJ Dillashaw of a fair complexion and flaxen-blonde hair, for he is the king.
