Faber vs. Barao

This is the official discussion thread for Faber vs. Barao. Let's see what you've got.

Faber beats everyone at 135 not named Dominick Cruz.

Here's some good analysis of the striking portion of this fight: Why Barao isn't Jose Aldo and Faber's weaknesses.

^pretty interesting breakdown, good read.

@dannotheman: Thanks for posting that. I've actually grown tired of the excessive Aldo/Barao comparisons. I blame most of that on the idiot Goldberg who says it repeatedly on the last broadcast Barao was on. They are both Brazilian, train at the same camp, and have nice tans. Outside of that they are different fighters. So trying to use Aldo's dominance of Faber to justify a Barao victory is ridiculous. It's not like Aldo rubs his secret sauce all over Barao before they fight...lol. Barao is more wild in his strikes than Aldo. He does alot more fancy jumping, kicking, spinning manuevers. I think this enables Faber to catch him off balance and get the takedown more easily. Once Faber gets him down, I don't see Barao out-grappling him in the least. He won't submit him because elite wrestlers who have a good knowledge of jui-jitsu rarely get submitted. In fact, they submit the jui-jitsu guy more often because they typically have better cardio and strength. So I'll take Faber by decision in this one, with an outside shot at a choke in round 4-5.

Okay, we all know that Barao hasn't lost a fight in 29 straight fights. What we should know is that, while he has beaten a couple of tough fighters lately, most of those victories were against inferior competition. His KO power is overrated (and even if it wasn't, Faber's only been KOed twice and only once in the last 7 years). And while Barao's got a lot of submission victories, Faber's never been submitted. The California Kid will surprise a lot of people and wrestle Barao to a decision victory.

@stickman : well put

Thank you, kind sir

I have to go with Faber on this. I do like Barao's style though!!!

This is a hard one to try and call! I have gone for Faber decision due to his experience at this higher level, no doubt that Barao wants a win badly and has demonstrated the skills necessary to be an potential champion one day and I am by no means writing him off. I wouldn't mind being wrong though. I'm fed up of watching Faber v Cruz!! Would be interesting for Barao to defend the interim title in the meanwhile to prove himself if he walks away with it.

Definitely going with Barao here.

@bchrisb: Amen to that. The Faber Cruz bit has gotten old to me as well. However, it what we have for the moment. Its going to take a few years to get the bantam and fly weight divisions stocked up with great fighters. These divisions weren't getting any real exposure until recently so the quality of competition was limited. The same thing happened in the lightweight division after the UFC did away with it. Now its been 5 or so years since its return and the division is stocked with prime talent. A number of those guys are going to filter down to the lighter weight divisions in the next few years and we won't be stuck with the same old fights. Just have to have a little patience, and all will be well. In the meantime, a win for faber would be better in the long run because we can get the Cruz rematch over and done withfor good. Plus that would motivate Barao to remain even harder, and we'd get a better product out of him as well.

faber is a ****y Lil guy. barao will humble him.

idk about humble him wolf haha... after all aldo gave him a beating and he is still the same dude. But i guess its possible. But unlikely..

Big step up in competition for Barao. Maybe he's for real, but Faber is still a solid fighter and should have plenty left in the gas tank. Let's go Faber!

I think a late stoppage or a decision for Faber is more likely, but I'm making this pick purely on what I'd like to see happen..  war Barao!

danno your sig is" Lil faber had no chance vs barao".

 

i'll be fair too. i'll sig vs cruz too. barao gonna eat him up too. good night.

@wolf- You were pretty close