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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=439054" target="_blank">
Coach: Interim title hurting Renan Barao
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<a href="/go=news.detail&gid=439054" ><img class="photo" src="http://img.mixedmartialarts.com/method=get&rs=80&q=75&x=15&y=27&w=310&h=165&ro=0&s=renan-barao-09-22-2013-9-15-29-135.jpg" /></a>
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<p>Nova Uniao founder recently appeared on MMAjunkie.com Radio and expressed frustration that his student, UFC interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao, is still not the real champ, despite an unprecedented second defense of the interim belt.</p>
UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz says he will be ready to defend his title in January, and UFC president Dana White says if he is not, he will be stripped of his title. The chance to unify the belts cannot come too soon for the Brazilians.
"He's very frustrated because he needs to make money," said Pederneiras. "So many sponsors here in Brazil are not sponsoring him because he's not the real champion from the UFC. He's the interim champion. He's losing money every day.
"The sponsors here want a real champion. A linear champion."
"I don't want another opponent. I want to make the fight happen by February, or I need to talk to Dana to take his belt, because more than two-and-a-half years, I don't understand. But he said he was probably going to be fighting in February.
"I've been waiting for that and praying every day for it to happen. Renan wants to fight Dominick."
Yeah this I don't get, Cruz and/or the UFC have really been stubborn about this. COmpletely unfair to Barao who hasn't said shit or refused anything since he got that damn interim belt, a useless feel good title
Someone else on here said that if the interim belt is defended it should become the real title. I agree. Zuffa should have given Barao the title already.
A lot of it is the shallowness of the division, and that when they finally were going to strip Cruz, it didn't make sense to because was also hurt. The former is a bigger issue than the latter. That's why Kid Yammamoto didn't get cut after under performing, and why Faber seems to always be one win away from a title shot.
I know Edgar wouldn't agree. But I'd much rather see him and Barao coach TUF and fight for the 135 strap. And then Cruz could face the winner mid year without the pressure of rushing back.
I'm not a Cruz fan, but he did work hard to get to where he is. He has name recognition, he's photogenic and he won a title bout.
The idea of stripping a sitting champion because of an injury is tough.
The idea that you should strip a champion because another guy wants to make endorsement money? Well, that's not tough at all for me. That's not a good enough reason.
I'm not a Cruz fan, but he did work hard to get to where he is. He has name recognition, he's photogenic and he won a title bout.
The idea of stripping a sitting champion because of an injury is tough.
The idea that you should strip a champion because another guy wants to make endorsement money? Well, that's not tough at all for me. That's not a good enough reason.
Everyone works hard, it's not fair he got injured but you can't hold up everyone else because of one guy indefinitely, what if Cruz has a setback? 2 1/2 years is absurdly long man, it's not like he goes back of the line or has a loss from getting stripped it's just to make things move forward.
Keeping it on him is purely symbolic and appeasing him, there's no need for it.
The UFC should have been giving Barao extra for being their LONG TERM interim champ if they had no intention of stripping cruz, this is cheapness, he's earning less than Leonard Garcia was before he was cut.
Up until now I assumed the UFC was giving him extra, apparently not if Barao is crying poor.
Cruz either has dirt on Dana, or something else odd? They clipped Mir quicker than this
Who else has been unable to fight for 2 years and kept a belt?
It's a few days from the two year mark, and it might be another 6 months.
Just ridiculous IMO
Mir was also in a motorcycle accident. Completely different fro Cruz's training injury
But the result of both are the same, holding up the division, it shouldn't matter how they are out of action, and I think Mir even came back sooner than Cruz will.
There is a champions clause in their contract that says a champion must be able to defend the title at least once every 12 monts. Failure to do so allows the UFC to strip the title at any given time past the 12 month mark.
The logic that is the interim belt is defended successfully once it should turn into the real belt. His first defense should have turned that interim belt into the real deal.
There is a champions clause in their contract that says a champion must be able to defend the title at least once every 12 monts. Failure to do so allows the UFC to strip the title at any given time past the 12 month mark.
The logic that is the interim belt is defended successfully once it should turn into the real belt. His first defense should have turned that interim belt into the real deal.
The UFC not striping cruz makes any situation where they do from now on a complete clusterfuck and worthy of total embarassment for doing it.
I'm not a Cruz fan, but he did work hard to get to where he is. He has name recognition, he's photogenic and he won a title bout.
The idea of stripping a sitting champion because of an injury is tough.
The idea that you should strip a champion because another guy wants to make endorsement money? Well, that's not tough at all for me. That's not a good enough reason.
Stripping because of an injury? Yeah thats tough
stripping because of an injury that has you out of competition for well over 2 years...
The UFC should have been giving Barao extra for being their LONG TERM interim champ if they had no intention of stripping cruz, this is cheapness, he's earning less than Leonard Garcia was before he was cut.
Up until now I assumed the UFC was giving him extra, apparently not if Barao is crying poor.
Brilliant deductions there. Yikes.
He's not crying poor. His manager is crying that he isn't getting even more.
Have to be pretty addle minded to think Barao isn't getting extra.