#4 Renan Barão vs T J Dillashaw 1 (UFC 173)
Every betting organisation saw T J Dillashaw as the underdog going into this 2014 title fight. The American mixed martial artist wasn’t even supposed to fight for the title originally leading up to the event.
However, after his initial opponent, Takeya Mizugaki, dropped out of the fight, Dillashaw was moved up the card to face the then Brazillian champion, Renan Barao who had already defended his title thrice and was in the top 5 pound-for-pound list at the time.
So it's really no surprise that the warriors walked into the Octagon with the MMA world expecting a retention.
Dillashaw began the fight cautiously, bouncing around the champion with incredible footwork and analysing his patterns. The American’s camp back then, American Alpha, and T J's coach Duane Ludwig had one clear-cut strategy to test the Brazillian’s cardio, which they presumed was affected because of Barao’s intense weight cut.
Constantly shifting stances and feinting, got Dillashaw in range through the entirety of the bout and set-up the first big knockdown of the fight. As the American backed away with his hands down, he timed a huge right with Barao’s entry into range knocking him to the canvas.
He nearly finished the fight but Barao held on to fight another round after Dillashaw attempted a choke that didn’t take.
Barao seemed more like himself in the second as T J faded a bit only to come on strong in the third and fourth as planned to take advantage of the champ’s fading cardio. He almost finished it again at the of the third with a head kick but there wasn’t time left in the round to do so.
The head kick, however, found Barao’s neck eventually in the fifth round as the American used his angles and unpredictability to confuse the champ. Dillashaw wasted no time as he rained down fists, followed by ground and pound as the whole world watched in shock.
The fact that the bout wasn't even supposed to happen in the first place just adds to the upset factor in this first fight between the two.
