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COLUMN: Following Renan Barao's Dominance At UFC 169, Who's Next For "The Baron" At Bantamweight?

Feb 3, 2014 - 8:45:23 PM COLUMN: Following Renan Barao's Dominance At UFC 169, Who's Next For "The Baron" At Bantamweight?

Raphael Assuncao (20-4), Rank #3

T.J. Dillashaw (10-2), Rank #5

Dominick Cruz (19-1), Rank #10

Renan Barao stopped Urijah Faber this weekend at UFC 169 in Newark, New Jersey to become the undisputed UFC Bantamweight Champion. Some may argue "The Baron" was already the Undisputed Champ, but he was named the champion unceremoniously after yet another injury to former champion Dominick Cruz. The question now becomes: who's next for the bantamweight Baron? I have compiled a short list of possible contenders to battle for the bantamweight belt in his next defense.Raphael Assuncao is a surging bantamweight contender who is an aggressive striker willing to push the pace as well stand in the pocket and trade; in addition, he's a good BJJ practitioner.Assuncao is coming off a very close split decison victory over T.J. Dillashaw. He also has a submission victory over Vaughn Lee and unanimous decision over Mike Easton.Outside of hardcore fans, most people may not have heard of Raphael Assuncao. It is not because he's an undeserving adversary for Barao, but he has been buried on the undercard of UFC fights, not unlike his upcoming placement at UFC 170. If you wish to see exactly what Raphael Assuncao brings to the table, be sure to catch him on February 22 on Fox Sports 1.T.J. Dillashaw has totally reinvented himself with the assistance of Duane Ludwig in the Alpha Male fight camp. Prior to his fight with Easton, Dillashaw could be thought of as an athletic wrestler with only decent striking skills. During his fight with Easton my perception of Dillashaw as just a wrestler drastically changed. Dillashaw showed exemplary movement and striking in that bout, weaving in to land strikes and just out of range to be countered.At the conclusion of his fight with Barao, Faber made a case for Dillashaw, one of his teammates, to have an opportunity to challenge for the bantamweight title; I'll make a case for him here as well. We are witnessing a great evolution in Dillashaw from being thought of as just a wrestler with good ground and pound to a well rounded mixed martial artist.Unanimous decision of Mike Easton, First Round TKO of Hugo Viana, and First Round submission of Vaughn LeeA fight prior to T.J. Dillashaw outclassing Mike Easton, he lost a close split decision to Raphael Assuncao. Although he made great strides in his striking, his resume to date may be a bit thin to immediately warrant a title fight with Barao.The constant movement and unorthodox footwork of Dominick Cruz often left his opponents looking as if they were entrenched in mud. Cruz would zig-zag in and out throwing punches, side to side snapping off kicks, then back out before shooting in for takedowns. He was the Fred Astaire of mixed martial arts; however, this was prior to having two ACL surgeries on the same knee. Cruz was scheduled to face Barao in a unification bout this past weekend, but consequently a groin injury forced him out of the fight, and also forced him to vacate the Bantamweight belt.The UFC could promote a fight between Renan Barao and Dominick Cruz as a contest to settle who is the undisputed king of the bantamweight division, but that ship may have already sailed.Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, Urijah Faber, Joseph BenavidezCruz would be returning after a near three year layoff. To put the layoff in perspective, the last opponent he faced, Demetrious Johnson in October 2011, is now the Flyweight Champion and already has three successful title defenses.While Cruz has been providing analytical commentary on Fox, the question remains, what version of Dominick Cruz will return to combat, and should he immediately face Renan Barao?