“I’m a mixed martial artist. I can fight with him anywhere. I look at it as a chess match, literally. Renan Barao plays chess when he’s in there. I play chess when I’m there. The most impressive part about Barao is the way that he mixes things up. He’s constantly shooting, kneeing up the middle, left hook, straight right hand and spinning back kicks. My favorite thing that he does is he’ll throw the right hand and he’ll throw the left hook just to see you react. If he keeps landing the right hand than you don’t want to circle into the power of the right hand. So what does he do? When you go to the weak side he throws a spinning back kick. So now you have two power shots that he can land going right or left if you’re trying to defend against Renan Barao’s offense. Barao mixes it up better than anybody in the division.That’s what I’m looking forward to fighting. I’m looking forward fighting a guy that mixes things up from head to toe, whether it be wrestling, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, boxing. I’m ready for that. I will be ready for that, and I cannot wait. I think that I can challenge that. I know that I can beat him. I know that I have the tools to challenge him and really trick him out in a lot of different ways with the things that I do in a fight.”

The real bantamweight champion of the UFC, Dominick Cruz, took to his analyst gig at the UFC on FOX desk during the post-UFC 165 show to discuss his potential matchup with the interim champ, Renan Barao.

Barao has been handling all-comers during the two-year absence of the champion, Cruz.

Expected to return in the first part of 2014, Cruz anticipates a victory when the two finally meet up to crown the undisputed champion of the UFC’s 135 pound division.