Renan Barao decided to give a little bit of backstory as to how he came to lose his belt against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 173, on May last year. According to the former champion, the UFC pressured him into taking the bout once Chris Weidman injured himself and his fight against Lyoto Machida had to be postponed to July.

Barao looked back on the day he got the call, in March, when he was still in his hometown of Natal, celebrating Carnaval with his family and friends, as he told Portal do Vale Tudo.

"I was on vacation, I had just fought Faber in February. I was in my hometown when I got the call from Jair Lourenco, telling me the UFC wanted me to fight at UFC 173, because Chris Weidman had gotten hurt and they had to have a title fight. I said I couldn't fight, but since we always trusted our work, we tried to give our best. Unfortunately, the result was what happened."

As for his upcoming rematch with Dillashaw, Barao remains the same when it comes to the trash talk he has been hearing from the champion. Renan doesn't consider him the champion and will look to shut him up when the day comes.

"He has been talking a lot of gibberish. I will show just how wrong he is on the things he's saying. I don't think he's a champion, I think he's a joker."

Renan Barao and T.J. Dillashaw are scheduled to meet again on July 25, at UFC on Fox 16, in Chicago.