Renan Barão

His nickname Barão (baron), which predates his athletic career, was given to him by his grandmother after a character in the 1986 Brazilian soap opera Sinhá Moça.

He started his career in Kimura Nova União, a sports school in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Renan Barão (born 31 January 1987), is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and a former UFC Bantamweight Champion.

He held one of the longest unbeaten streaks in MMA history - following a loss in his professional debut, he recorded 35 straight fights without a loss (34 victories and one no contest) over a span of ten years.

During his championship reign, he was ranked as a top three pound-for-pound fighter and regarded as one of the best mixed martial artists in the world.

Barão was born into a poor family of 13 in Natal, Brazil.

His parents divorced when he was young, and he was raised mostly by his mother, aunt and grandmother.

Following the divorce, Barão would meet his father – who was an accomplished boxer – next time when he was a teen.

Inspired by his father, Barão would instantly start training in combat sports.

Since turning professional in 2005, Barão has competed for Shooto Brazil and other smaller organizations in his native country of Brazil, having fought Rony Mariano Bezerra and Anistavio "Gasparzinho" Medeiros both former The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil contestants.

He is a teammate and training partner of former WEC Featherweight Champion and former UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo at Nova União.

In January 2010, Sherdog named him their top prospect in their list of "10 Brazilians to watch in 2010"

Barão was expected to make his North American, as well as WEC debut in a Bantamweight bout against Clint Godfrey on 20 June 2010 at WEC 49, but Godfrey was forced from the card with an injury.

Barão instead faced fellow WEC newcomer Anthony Leone at an agreed 142 lb catchweight.

Barão defeated Leone via submission (armbar) in the third round.

Barão defeated Chris Cariaso by rear-naked choke submission in the first round on 16 December 2010 at WEC 53.

In October 2010, the WEC merged with the UFC.

As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

He received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from André Pederneiras in September 2011 becoming the 100th black belt under Pederneiras in the process.

Barão was expected to make his UFC debut on 28 May 2011 against Demetrious Johnson at UFC 130, but an undisclosed injury forced Brad Pickett out of his fight with Miguel Torres on the same card.

Johnson moved up to fight Torres, while Barão faced Cole Escovedo.

Barão won his debut fight in the organization via unanimous decision.

Barão faced Brad Pickett on 5 November 2011 at UFC 138.

He defeated Pickett by rear-naked choke submission in the first round, also winning Fight of the Night honors.

Barão faced Scott Jorgensen on 4 February 2012 at UFC 143.

He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Barão was expected to face Ivan Menjivar on 7 July 2012 at UFC 148 to possibly determine the number one contender.

Barão instead faced Urijah Faber for the Interim Bantamweight title after current champion Dominick Cruz was injured.

It was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 148 however, due to an injury to headliner José Aldo (who was supposed to make a title defence in the event's main event fight), the Faber/Barão bout was moved to 21 July 2012 and headlined UFC 149 for the Interim Bantamweight Championship.

He won the fight via unanimous decision to become the Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion.

He was expected to face Dominick Cruz for the unified UFC Bantamweight Championship at a later date.

However, it was announced on 4 December 2012 that Dominick Cruz suffered a second ACL tear that would require surgery, leaving Cruz now sidelined for 6–9 months.

In his first title defense, Barão retained the UFC Interim Bantamweight Championship against Michael McDonald on 16 February 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald.

McDonald was competitive with capable take-down defense and crisp boxing - particularly - in the first two rounds, but was worn down by Barão's more diverse skill-set as he mixed in knees and kicks standing, and often looked to take the fight to the floor (with success).

Upon executing a strong take-down in the fourth round, McDonald tried to explode to his feet but instead gave Barão opportunity to expertly secure an arm-triangle choke while passing into side control: McDonald tapped at 3:57 in the fourth round.

The win also won him his first Submission of the Night honors.

Barão was scheduled to make his second interim title defense against Eddie Wineland on 15 June 2013 at UFC 161.

However, on 21 May it was confirmed that Barão had pulled out of the bout, citing a foot injury.

The bout with Wineland was rescheduled for 21 September 2013 at UFC 165.

Barão retained the title with a second-round TKO victory via spinning back kick and subsequent punches to the face.