LAS VEGAS – It wasn’t that long ago that Renan Barao had been unbeaten for more than nine years and was being touted by no less than UFC president Dana White as perhaps the best fighter in the world.
Now, White is a promoter and it’s his job to boost the profile of those who fight for him. So obviously it was somewhat self-serving in 2014 when White began a campaign on behalf of the soft-spoken Brazilian.
Barao wasn’t particularly popular in the U.S. going into his bantamweight title fight at UFC 173 against T.J. Dillashaw and was rarely, if ever, mentioned at the time as being among the handful of best fighters in the world.
Dillashaw twice beat Barao decisively twice, and no one is making that argument any longer. But neither are they dismissing Barao’s considerable talents out of hand, particularly since he’s moved to featherweight.
At Sunday’s UFC Fight Night from the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Barao will debut at 145 pounds and there, eager to face him, is a man as desperate for a victory as Barao, will be Jeremy Stephens.
Stephens is coming off a disappointing loss to Max Holloway at UFC 194 in December. It was a bout that was expected to produce fireworks, but turned out to be a dud. Holloway’s strategy was to circle and move and limit the amount of time he engaged with Stephens.
Stephens was unable to force Holloway to fight and the result was a lackluster bout that had the crowd booing.
Rarely, if ever, do crowds boo during Jeremy Stephens fights. In more than nine years in the UFC, he’s regularly been among the company’s most reliably exciting fighters.
Though he’s lost three of his last four, Stephens scoffs at the notion that he’s entirely out of the featherweight title picture.
“My goal is to get the title and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe I could get it,” Stephens said. “I’ve beaten [Rafael dos Anjos], the 155-pound champ, and I’ve fought all of the top 145- and 155-pound guys. The title is not that far away, honestly. It’s always within grasp.”
Now, it’s great to have confidence, and no fighter can compete at a high level without a healthy dose of it. But though he wouldn’t admit to it, Stephens knows the bout with Barao is a must-win given his record. If he loses on Sunday, he’ll be on a two-fight losing streak and have dropped four of his last five.
There will be so many guys ahead of him, and he’ll need to win so many fights to get back into contention, that it’s really not even worth talking about as a realistic possibility.
But a win over Barao will carry significance, even if Barao is moving up in weight.
And though few fighters in desperate need of a win would choose Barao as their opponent for such a fight, Stephens believes it’s almost the perfect choice for him.
“This is a better opportunity for me and a better match-up for me,” compared to the Holloway fight, Stephens said. “This is a guy who is actually going to fight me. He’s tough and he can cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. But he’s going to play right into my game.
“He’s not going to run. He’s not going to karate point fight such as Max Holloway. Me and Max used to spar and I would kick his ass all the time. So he’d felt my power and maybe that’s why he fought how he did. Renan Barao is much more flat-footed … and he likes to engage, fight and throw down. That’s right into my style.”
Stephens has fought at both lightweight and featherweight and met some of the sport’s biggest names. At lightweight, in addition to knocking out dos Anjos, the current UFC lightweight champion, at UFC 91, he’s fought Anthony Pettis, Donald Cerrone, Yves Edwards and Joe Lauzon, among others.
At featherweight, he’s met Holloway, Dennis Bermudez, Charles Oliveira and Cub Swanson.
So he no doubt has been in with the elite in the sport at both weights and won’t be intimidated by Barao.
“Jeremy Stephens, man, I love watching him,” White said. “He’s one of those guys who comes to fight and is mean and nasty and is looking to take someone’s head off. You don’t hear him talking about game plan or strategy or any of that. He’s just going out there looking to beat the [expletive] out of someone.”
Stephens said he hoped that nothing happened that causes Barao to pull out of their bout. Barao has had some late withdrawals, notably against Dillashaw when he was struggling to cut weight.
Stephens referred to Barao as “a mentally broken Brazilian,” and said he wants to make a point in this fight.
“I worked on being a better me and a more exciting Jeremy Stephens,” he said. “After a loss, I always come back. I have knee knockouts, spinning back fist knockouts, uppercut knockouts, head kicks.
“I’m 30 years old with more than a decade in the game and I’m in my prime. I’ve always worked hard to improve and adapt and become a better version of what I was before. I don’t want to focus on what my opponent does. I focus on me and getting better as me and I know I’m clearly capable of KO’ing anyone in the world.”
He’s had his share of great fights and high-end victories. He’s won Fight of the Night twice and Knockout of the Night twice, and could have won several other times.
A win over Barao, though, would be the most significant win on his resume since his devastating knockout of dos Anjos.
Stephens caught dos Anjos early in the third round of that Nov. 15, 2008, bout, with a right uppercut that sent the future champion to the canvas in a heap. Stephens quickly finished the fight, and it is his signature moment.
He’d like to repeat that kind of finish on Sunday against Barao. Some in his situation might have preferred a lesser opponent to, in essence, guarantee themselves a win.
That’s now, however, how Stephens is wired.
“This is the perfect opponent for me,” Stephens said. “Everything is lined up the right way. People will pay attention to a win over this guy.”