Renan Barao (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Although Renan Barao has lost four of his last five fights, the former, pound-for-pound contender, still believes he has what it takes to reclaim a UFC title.

For years, Barao was widely considered to be one of the best fighters on the planet, but in 2014, his reign as the UFC’s bantamweight champ was ended by TJ Dillashaw. Since then, the Brazilian fighter has gone 2-4, and Barao is no longer a top 15 ranked fighter.

This Saturday at UFC FN 137 Barao will take on Andre Ewell. Recently the former champ spoke with Combate, and while doing so, he had this to say about his future (quote via MMA Mania):

“Surely I still think about the title,” Barao said. “Every fighter’s dream is to fight for the belt. I’m still young, I’m sure my time will come again. I was focusing on something that held me back during the fight, something I didn’t use to do I tried to change, but it ended up being bad for me. So we took a step back, we tried to improve.”

“I think I’m going to be a completely different Renan Barao. I always had a good head on my shoulders. What happened was that I just wasn’t getting lucky in my fights. I was harming myself in the nutrition aspect, but I always had a good head. I always came to fight, my goal was to always get a knockout or submission, that never changed.”

In Barao’s last outing, at UFC on FOX 28 in February, the 31 year-old lost via decision to Brian Kelleher.