Exclusive: Brian Kelleher Looks To Put The Pressure On Renan Barao For a TKO Finish, Will Fight Even If Barao Misses Weight
Brian Kelleher returns to action in less than a week at UFC On Fox 28, with his opponent being former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao.
Prior to the upcoming bout against the former bantamweight champion, a surging Kelleher scored a knockout win over Damien Stasiak at UFC Fight Night Gdansk.
“It was amazing, I was really happy because my fight before that was so fast that I did not get to perform at all. This fight was like even if I win, I wanna go three rounds and really display all of my skills and try to get the finish at the end. I knew Damien was tough, hard to get and put away, but I got the job done in the third round. I had a great performance and got fight of the night actually, so that was awesome,” says Kelleher in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Kelleher is facing the aforementioned Renan Barao at UFC On Fox 28, a former champion who has gone just 2-3-0 since losing the strap to TJ Dillashaw at UFC 173.
The rising contender now gets a shot at the former champion and Kelleher is happy with the opportunity given to him by the UFC.
“I’m really happy with this opportunity, the UFC took a long time to get back to me with this opportunity. I fought last October 21st, sometimes you know it takes longer than you want (to get a fight). I’m coming off of a win, I’m 31. I love rolling with the momentum, I wanna keep getting in there. I’m staying in shape, I never fall out of shape. When they (the UFC) said Renan Barao, I was like ‘wow, this is a good sign of things to come.’ I think the UFC likes me, I think they enjoy my fighting, I’ve gotten two bonuses so far out of my first three fights. I’m now here fighting a top ten guy, I don’t know his ranking is, but I know he’s up there. He’s a former world champion and I couldn’t ask for more, this is the fight that people are going to find out who I am…finally,” says Kelleher.
Keller stated that even if Barao misses weight, he'll still take the fight.
UFC On Fox 28 takes place on Saturday, February 24 from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida with Jeremy Stephens and Josh Emmett headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox.
