T.J. Dillashaw def. Renan Barao TKO (punches) – Round 4

CHICAGO – As if to prove that he’s improving all the time, UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw bettered the performance in his first fight with former champ Renan Barao by putting the Brazilian away a round earlier in the rematch. Barao came out as the aggressor in the bout initially. In a quick exchange it loked like Barao landed a big left getting the better of the situaiton. Dillashaw recovered and had Barao against the cage and began to go to work. Barao tried to get underhooks to control, but Dillashaw had a free right arm and worked on Barao’s body. Dillashaw eventually relinquished his hold and a Barao kick took out his leg and Dillashaw went to the mat. He was able to recover quickly and get back to his feet. A wild throw from Barao left him off balance, but he recovered. Dillashaw hurt Barao several times early on, though Barao would recover and fire back with several power shots of his own, some of which seemed to give Dillashaw momentary pause. What they didn’t do was bring about a lasting halt to the torrent of punch combos and head kicks, as Dillashaw put his foot on the gas and attacked Barao with a ceaseless ferocity. In the third, Dillashaw had Barao in trouble, but seemed more concerned with assessing his opponent’s wooziness than in finishing him off. Then, near the end of the round, Dillashaw poured on the offense, leaving Barao to stumble back to his corner when the horn finally sounded. Dillashaw rocked Barao early in the fourth and had him pinned against the cage and unleashed a vicious flurry of strikes. It looked like Barao was wobbled at least once and the fight should’ve been stopped but Herb Dean let it continue. Eventually Dean stepped in to stop it as Dillashaw continued to unload on Barao.