Barao v. Dillashaw, Ultimate Fighting Championship

The prevailing storyline about Saturday night’s Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title bout at the MGM Grand Garden is that it is yet another showcase for Renan Barao to extend his winning streak and increase his profile in the sport.

Barao has not lost since April 2005, a span of 32 fights that includes six straight wins in the UFC.

His challenger at UFC 173 on Saturday night, T.J. Dillashaw, has never even fought on the main card of a pay-per-view event.

But Dillashaw doesn’t see himself as just another notch on Barao’s title belt.

“If I didn’t believe I could win, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Dillashaw said while appearing on “UFC Tonight” on Fox Sports 1. “Being an underdog is better for me because you don’t have expectations and you get to prove everyone wrong. I don’t feel the pressure at all.”

Dillashaw, 28, has won five of his last six fights. He is coming off a unanimous decision win over Mike Easton in January. He is ranked as the No. 4 contender in the division and was slated to fight Takeya Mizugaki on this card, but was moved up to fight Barao when the card needed a new main event.

Dillashaw insists he is ready to seize the opportunity.

“I’m more prepared now than I’m ever going to be,” he said. “It’s a perfect storybook ending for me. I feel like the best fighter I could be right now.

Dillashaw trains with Urijah Faber at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Calif. Faber has fought Barao twice, and while he came up short both times, the experience has been valuable in Dillashaw’s preparations.

“Urijah prepared for some things that didn’t happen,” Dillashaw said. “Barao is an offensive fighter. I have to get him going backwards. I have to be aggressive while being safe.”

The fight headlines a card that also includes a light heavyweight bout between Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson.

■ BELLATOR PPV IN THE BOOKS — The first Bellator Fighting Championships pay-per-view event took place on Saturday night with several interesting fights.

The main event light heavyweight bout between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal wasn’t the most action-packed, but the postfight antics did provide some drama.

Jackson was awarded a controversial unanimous decision victory, prompting Lawal to take the microphone and launch a profanity-laced tirade against Bellator president Bjorn Rebney.

Then the fighters turned their attention to each other during the postfight news conference.

Lawal pointed out that Jackson asking for a rematch was a signal he knew he should have lost.

Jackson said he only wanted a rematch because he didn’t get the chance to knock Lawal out.

“You didn’t want to fight, you wanted to hump. I wanted to fight.” Jackson said.

“It’s called MMA. I was wrestling and you knew I beat you, I saw people leaving before the decision be announced because they knew that I had the fight won,” Lawal said.

A rematch is possible.

Another former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz, also won on the card with a first-round submission win over Alexander Shlemenko.

It was Ortiz’s first fight in two years and he had gone 1-7-1 in his last nine fights.

“People say when something can’t be done then you should stop believing. I’ve had five major surgeries and I’m still here,” Ortiz said. “I’m inspired to inspire others but I can kick any light heavyweight in Bellator’s ass, Rampage that means even you.”

■ SHOGUN DISCUSSES ROBBERY — Former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was robbed by a group of armed gunmen in Rio de Janeiro earlier this month.

The criminals took nearly all of Rua’s belongings, including his shirt and shoes.

He spoke to MMA Fighting about the ordeal, which happened after Rua finished a photo shoot with featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Rua said he then went to dinner and watched a UFC event on TV with a friend named Pixote.

“Pixote was taking me back to Niteroi, and when we were about to get to the Rio-Niteroi bridge, a car stopped in front of us and four men jumped out of it with guns. There was nothing we could have done,” Rua told the website. “I left everything inside the car. I thought about getting my wallet and phone, but maybe they would think I was getting a gun so I left everything there. We were at Linha Vermelha, at 2:30 a.m., and we had to walk two miles to get at the nearest police station.

“I’m glad no one got hurt.”

■ LION FIGHT CARD — Las Vegas-based muay Thai organization Lion Fight will hold an event as part of the UFC’s International Fight Week.

The Lion Fight card will take place at The Palms on July 4. Tickets start at $25.

The card, which features as its main event a World Super Lightweight title bout between Kevin Ross and Michael Thompson, will also air live on AXS TV.

International Fight Week, which features live UFC events on both Saturday and Sunday, will run from July 1 through 6.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.