Renan Barao turns attention from Cruz to Faber – finally as undisputed UFC champion

A fight against Dominick Cruz is something that has been on Renan Barao‘s mind for a long time.

When the Brazilian came to the WEC in 2010, his unbeaten streak was merely 24 fights. That’s modest compared to the 32 straight without a loss he has now. But he had his eye on Cruz, who won the now-defunct promotion’s 135-pound title at WEC 47.

Barao debuted at WEC 49 and has been looking to test himself against Cruz ever since. Just when he thought it finally was going to happen, the latest in a string of Cruz injuries took the fight away from him.

Cruz (19-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) was the UFC bantamweight champion until Monday, when he was stripped of the title after pulling out of a title unification fight with Barao (31-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) that had been set for UFC 169. A torn groin took Cruz out this time after he had worked his way back from a pair of knee surgeries. He hasn’t fought since October 2011.

Barao’s interim bantamweight title then went away – and he became the undisputed champ. Now he’ll fight Urijah Faber (30-6 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in the main event Feb. 1 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

But while Barao was looking forward to fighting Cruz, it’s not as much about the opponent as it is about taking his next test to prove he’s the best bantamweight in the world.

“It was surprising, because everybody was waiting for Cruz to come back to the octagon,” Barao told MMAjunkie through a translator. “As it was for the MMA fans, it was surprising for me, too. I was waiting for this fight since I was in the WEC. When I finally had the chance, he got injured again. So that shocked me.”

But Barao and his camp at Nova Uniao have campaigned before for him to be the undisputed champion while Cruz continued to work his way back. Now he has that honor – and he’s not particularly concerned with having it handed to him rather than having to fight Cruz to get there.

“I got sad about Cruz’s injury. But I’m happy because I always wanted to be the champion,” he said. “That was my goal since I entered the UFC. So I don’t care if I’m not going to fight Cruz anymore because I always felt like I was the champion. I don’t need to beat him to be the champion. I’m the kind of fighter who doesn’t ask for opponents. I always felt like I was the champion. I know that’s the fight everyone wanted to see, but he’s injured and there’s nothing I can do.”

So in steps Faber, who went 4-0 in 2013 with three submission wins. Barao beat “The California Kid” in July 2012 for the interim title when Cruz suffered his first knee injury.

Barao hurt Faber’s ribs with a knee in the first round of their first fight, and went on to take a pair of 49-46 scores and a 50-45. But Barao has been keeping an eye on what Faber has done since their first meeting, and he believes UFC officials made the right choice when they asked Faber to step in next month.

“Faber deserves to be the next opponent,” he said. “He’s one of the toughest guys in the division. I already fought him, but he gets better and better. I’m not surprised to see him, and I’m happy I’m going to fight him and I want to beat him again.”

Faber said he’ll have a new game plan this time around against Barao – including an intention of getting dirty and taking the fight to the Brazilian.

And Barao expects that. He’s seen Faber improve on the feet, he said, which is where he dominated him 18 months ago.

“Actually, I think he’s improved in his standup fighting,” Barao said. “He’s very resilient and a tough guy. He can take punches and he’s difficult to knock out. He looked great in his last fight. But if I had to say something he’s improved on, I’d say his standup.

“For sure, he’ll come with a different strategy. But I’m ready for anything. I’m ready for the standup, I’m ready for the ground. I’m training hard for this, so I don’t care (where he wants it to go).”

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