Renan Barão

Renan Barão, born Renan do Nascimento Mota Pegado on 31 January 1987 in Natal, Brazil, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and a former UFC Bantamweight Champion. He grew up in a poor family and began training in combat sports after meeting his father, an accomplished boxer, as a teenager; his nickname, Barão, meaning baron, was given to him by his grandmother. Turning professional in 2005, he trained at Kimura Nova União in Natal, received a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from André Pederneiras in 2011, and moved from the WEC into the UFC when the two promotions merged. He won the interim bantamweight title by beating Urijah Faber in July 2012, defended it twice, and became the undisputed champion in 2014 before losing to T. J. Dillashaw. According to Fight Matrix, his unbeaten streak, which lasted from 2005 to 2014, is the third longest in MMA history.