Renan Barao may not be experiencing the best phase of his career, but no one can say he isn’t doing anything about it.

At one point, Barao reigned supreme over the UFC’s bantamweight division. He first earned interim honors, later being upgraded to undisputed champ. By the time he was done with veteran Urijah Faber, whom Barao beat via TKO at UFC 169, he was on a jaw-dropping 32-fight winning streak.

Things went on a much bumpier path from there. Barao first lost his title to current champ T.J. Dillashaw. After a rematch fell through due to the Brazilian’s weight-cutting issues, he recovered with a submission over Mitch Gagnon, only to then lose to Dillashaw again.

Barao then ventured into the 145-pound division, where he got mixed results. Then an attempted return to 135, which was ultimately contested as a 140-pound catchweight bout due to the California State Athletic Commission’s recommendation, ended in a loss to Aljamain Sterling.

Barao (34-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) tries to get back on track this Saturday, at UFC on FOX 28, when he meets Brian Kelleher (18-8 MMA, 2-1 UFC). And, to ensure different results, he invested on a different process.

“I did my entire camp at American Top Team,” Barao told MMAjunkie. “It was great. I really enjoyed it. There are a lot of people there. I was looking for something different, something I hadn’t seen yet in terms of training, in order to tweak some details.

“It’s good to keep growing, to keep pursuing evolution. We know that MMA is ever-changing, so it’s good to always get new information.”

That was an additional step in yet another major change made by the Brazilian. Ahead of the fight with Sterling, Barao had followed former teammate Claudia Gadelha’s suit and departed Rio de Janeiro, where he’d long trained at Nova Uniao, toward the U.S.

“I was in Arizona with Jair Lourenco (longtime coach) and did a camp there,” Barao said. “But, unfortunately, there just isn’t that much human material.”

Lack of training partners certainly wasn’t a problem at ATT, where Barao highlights not only the training with lighter names like that of fellow UFC bantamweight Pedro Munhoz, but also the knowledge acquired under the guise of coach and former pro boxer Kelson Pinto.

Barao’s weight, too, has been addressed: Before his 145-pound foray,  the former champion had consistently pointed to his weight cuts as being worse than the fights. That came to a boiling point before UFC 177, when weight-cutting complications had him hospitalized the day before his then-scrapped headliner with Dillashaw.

The lesson, it seems, has been learned the hard way.

“My eating has changed completely,” Barao said. “I stayed lighter, and it’s been easier than the last time. (The weight cut) is always a bit annoying, but it’s all going as planned.”

When Barao steps into the octagon at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, for the FOX-televised preliminary card scrap, seven months will have elapsed since his last fight, a layoff that Barao took to rest, spend time with his family, and “think about my career and my life.”

But then Barao got the itch to return. So, when the somewhat obscure name of Kelleher was offered, he didn’t blink.

“It didn’t matter who the opponent was,” Barao said. “The important thing is to keep working, to show the evolution and the results of my training.”

Barao’s rough recent stint isn’t lost on him. But the Brazilian bantamweight says his head is just as good as it’s always been. After all, whether it’s riding an insane winning streak or losing a title fight, Barao’s ultimate goal has always been the same.

“What makes me stronger are my friends and family, who are always ready to offer me some words of comfort,” Barao said. “My concern is giving my best to my family. This is the main focus, really.”

Which is not to say that re-claiming his majesty is not somewhere in the back of his mind.

“That’s everyone’s goal in there and mine isn’t different,” Barao said. “I want to return and put on great fights. But it’s one thing at a time. I’m thinking about this fight, then the next – and then getting back to the belt, of course.”