While Renan Barao has been persecuted by UFC President Dana White, fellow fighters and the MMA community in general for not making weight and missing his UFC 177 main event rematch with champion T.J. Dillashaw, one fighter is standing by his side.
WSOF bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes says that everyone is being too hard on his fellow Brazilian comrade.
“I think they’re going too hard on him,” Moraes told MMAjunkie. “It’s just the first time it’s happened. Of course he’s big, but everyone is big. Everyone cuts weight, and it can happen with anyone.”
While everyone seems to have an opinion on weight-cutting, Moraes says that this Barao situation is an isolated exception and a mistake that is unlikely to reoccur.
“Everyone is struggling to cut weight, and just because this time he passed out and hit his head on the wall, people are going to say he’s a bad dude,” Moraes said. “Of course he’s not. He’s a great fighter, and he’s a great person. He’s going to go back and rest, and he’s going to show up on weight next time.”
