T.J. Dillashaw ends Renan Barão's win streak to win bantamweight belt

Round after round, we waited to see how the champ was going to turn things around. But this fight did not play out like Jones vs. Gustafsson, when "Bones"

Jeff Wagenheim | May 25, 2014

T.J. Dillashaw ends Renan Barão's win streak to win bantamweight belt /

Renan BarÃ£o had not lost a bout since 2005 before meeting up with T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 173 :: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

Round after round, we waited to see how the champ was going to turn things around. But this fight did not play out like Jones vs. Gustafsson, when "Bones" heroically overcame a rugged start to seize the fight in the championship rounds. This time the championship rounds were for the crowning of a new champion. This time the evening's hero was a challenger who went for it and got it. Shockingly. Emphatically.

Published May 25, 2014

JEFF WAGENHEIM

Paradoxically, Jeff Wagenheim considers himself a pacifist (except when driving in traffic) but nonetheless writes about mixed martial arts, the world's most combative sport (other than driving in traffic). As a veteran of three decades in magazines and newspapers, he's a bit grayer than most who attend UFC fights, even along press row. (A fan watching an MMA media panel show recently referred to him as "that crazy hippie uncle," to which Jeff responds, "Groovy, man!") Wagenheim also has tackled pro football for SI.com, and writes about sports and the arts for The Boston Globe. When he's not on the road chasing the UFC, Jeff spends Sunday afternoons spinning Sleepy LaBeef and Boozoo Chavis records for a popular (but not pop) radio show in western Massachusetts.