Renan Barao Says UFC 177 Weight Cut was Great Until He Fainted, Hit Head on Bathtub

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In Renan Barao’s mind, everything – including his weight cut -- was going as planned this week.

That is, until the former bantamweight champion fainted and hit his head on a bathtub on Friday afternoon. Just like that, UFC 177 was in need of a new main event.

“I was dehydrating in the bathtub. I fainted; I hit my head and I was taken to the hospital,” Barao told Joe Rogan through a translator during an interview on Fox Sports 1 on Saturday night. “I don’t remember anything that happened before or after. I just remember [waking up] in the hospital.”

When the Brazilian did not show up for licensing or medicals with the California State Athletic Commission, Joe Soto was tabbed as his replacement against T.J. Dillashaw in the UFC 177 main event. Barao, who says he normally drops approximately 22 pounds to make the bantamweight limit, disputes the notion that something is wrong with his weight-cutting methods.

“I was fine; my weight was around regularly what I come in for fight week,” he said. “Everything was fine. Everything was going great the whole week. The whole thing was I hit my head in the bathtub, and that’s where it all went down.

“I’ve had 35 fights cutting weight [using] this method. It’s always been fine for me. I think the whole problem is when I got up too fast, I blacked out and fell. So that was the whole issue.”

Although UFC President Dana White recently said that Barao has lost his right to an immediate title shot upon his return, the Nova Uniao product has his sights set on a rematch with Dillashaw. The Team Alpha Male product defeated Barao via fifth-round TKO to claim 135-pound gold at UFC 173 in May.

I’m very sad to not be fighting here tonight. It’s a dream come true every time I go in here and fight. I’m very disappointed not to be fighting,” Barao said. “I want to come back, and I want to face T.J. He’s been saying a lot of things, and I want to come in here and tear his head off.”