Coach: TJ Dillashaw has 'Barbie hands,' will get picked apart in 'crazy' loss to Renan Barao

Before current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight titleholder TJ Dillashaw and ex-champ Renan Barao face off for the second time at UFC on FOX 16 this Saturday night (July 25, 2015) in Chicago, warning shots were fired.

The pair originally fought at UFC 173 back in May 2014, with Dillashaw pulling off the unforgettable upset over the heavily-favored Barao. Now, as fight week drudges on, it appears both camps are looking to play mind games ahead of this critical point in their mixed martial arts (MMA) careers.

"If TJ had excellent punching power, he would have finished it after that first knockdown," Barao's Muay Thai coach Johnny Eduardo told Combate (via Bloody Elbow). "So I can tell he has Barbie hands. Let's see how it is now. That's all I can say about the current champion."

Those are stern words from the Brazilian's Nova Uniao camp. Earlier this week, Dillashaw added more spice to their main event match up inside the United Center by vowing to kick the 28-year-old Barao right in his shiny new teeth.

The Team Alpha Male stud knocked Barao down a final time in the fifth round of their UFC 173 meeting, flattening him with a head kick, which was followed by unanswered ground and pound.

Dillashaw's handiwork remains unimpressive to Eduardo and the latter thinks, through years of improving Barao's footwork, he will come out a more "intelligent" and aggressive as a fighter because of it.

"I have been with Barao for a while. I have been harnessing his Muay Thai since before his WEC days," said Eduardo. "He will cut angles and pick him apart. He will move well, because he was lost the first time. I believe TJ will suffer from beginning to end and Barao will finish him by the third. It's going to get ugly, TJ. It's going to get crazy, brother."

What will happen in their UFC on FOX 16 headliner is a mystery. Dillashaw, however, and his teammates, Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber, have all been in their Sacramento gym this year, readying for themselves for bouts against Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar, respectively .

However, the 29-year-old new kingpin of the 135-pound division has yet to step into the cage since a title defense against Joe Soto at UFC 178, marking what has been an 11-month layoff for the talented fighter. Dillashaw was scheduled to defend his title against Barao at UFC 186 in April, but the former was forced out of the bout with a broken rib -- something that seems to be afflicting a lot of athletes these days.

Barao, meanwhile, took down then-top 15 ranked bantamweight Mitch Gagnon by way of a third-round arm triangle choke in December.

For more on their upcoming rematch click here.

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