UFC interim bantamweight champ Renan Barao admits he considers himself the promotion’s real title holder. After his latest impressive win, it’s hard to argue with him.
With UFC champ Dominick Cruz forced to the sidelines with a pair of back-to-back knee surgeries, Barao has claimed an the promotion’s interim bantamweight belt and twice defended the temporary title with wins over dangerous strikers Eddie Wineland and Michael McDonald.
In fact, Barao now holds five-consecutive wins over top-10 opponents and boasts an astounding 31-fight win streak. As such, he passes Cruz for the top slot in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA rankings.
The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, fighters can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.