Former UFC champion, Renan Barão, has been increasingly dedicated to Jiu-Jitsu training and recently received a valuable invitation. The Nova União black belt was invited by Fepa Lopes, the creator of BJJ Stars, to compete in a superfight against Charles do Bronx – one of Brazil’s top stars in the current UFC.
The matchup was being negotiated to take place at BJJ Stars 11 on September 9th in São Paulo. However, with the announcement of Charles’ next fight, the showdown cannot happen at this moment. In an interview with Canal do Marinho, journalist Mario Filho’s channel, Renan Barão projected that the superfight might take place after Do Bronx’s UFC 294 bout in Abu Dhabi, where he faces champion Islam Makhachev on October 21st.
“When our friend Fepa, who is the head of BJJ Stars, called me with this proposal, I was very happy. Charles had also accepted, a gi match with the weight to be agreed upon later. Just the fact that he contacted me got me even more excited for gi training,” explained Barão, who continued:
“We were waiting for the UFC’s decision, but since Charles is fighting now (in October), the UFC did not release him. But we will wait for another opportunity, so that this fight can happen and further enhance our Jiu-Jitsu,” he concluded.
At 36 years old, Renan Barão was the UFC bantamweight champion and holds a record of 34 wins and 9 losses. He spent eight years under the UFC banner and left the organization in 2019. The fighter from Rio Grande do Norte has a bout scheduled against Sean Soriano in MMA without gloves on September 8th – the same card where Junior Cigano and Fabricio Werdum will face each other.
