Dana White thinks it's a good idea for Renan Barao to move up in weight
As long as T.J. Dillashaw has UFC bantamweight gold strapped around his waist, it's unlikely Renan Barao will ever get another sniff at a title shot.
Once considered nearly bulletproof at 135 pounds, Barao has been completely manhandled by Dillashaw twice in his last three fights, and with his well documented battle with the scales looming heavily over every bout, it may behoove "The Baron" to move up to featherweight.
"Yeah, it's obviously his decision but I think it would be a good idea to go up in weight," UFC president Dana White said following UFC on FOX 16 on Saturday, according to MMAFighting.com's Chuck Mindenhall. "You know, he's been having problems with the weight. He didn't have problems yesterday – he made the weight easy – but he looks really drawn out and dry when he cuts weight. So he should probably move up."
A victim of a botched weight cut prior to their originally scheduled rematch at UFC 177, Barao was able to make weight prior to UFC on FOX 16, but looked gassed almost immediately once the pace started to pick up against Dillashaw.
"I don't know, it's weird because there are situations where, when a guy loses a certain fight in a certain way, he's never the same," White said. "It happened to Meldrick Taylor and a million other guys in boxing. And it almost looks like it happened to Renan."
It's not like the subject hasn't come up before. Dillashaw even said in an interview leading up to the event that he planned on chasing Barao out of the division.
"The way I see it, I'm going to beat him and he's going to have to move up a weight class," Dillashaw told FOX Sports' Damon Martin.