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Monday, Sep 12, 2011

Pat Barry Hoping to Blow Up Stefan Struve With His “Dynamite Mike Tyson Arms”

By Kelsey Mowatt

Although Pat Barry is coming off a knockout loss to Cheick Kongo in June, the UFC had no problem quickly returning him to the spotlight, as the powerful striker was assigned a main card bout with Stefan Struve at the promotion’s October 1st, UFC on Versus 6 event. Of course, Barry’s aggressive style and propensity for participating in thrilling fights, likely made the upcoming match-up with Struve a no brainer for UFC officials.

“I’m definitely a performer,” said Barry, who worked his way to a unanimous decision win over Joey Beltran in January before facing Kongo this summer. “I come to fight hard at all times; that’s what people know about me. I come in and throw bombs at you no matter who it is. I’m coming to fight hard and even though in my last fight, did I win? No, but it still was a very memorable performance. I don’t think anybody can watch that fight and say they don’t want to see that again.”

Indeed, it’s not like Barry was overwhelmed by Kongo from the opening bell, as the 32 year-old-fighter was on the verge of putting away his opponent, before Kongo completed the stunning comeback with a punishing right hand.

“I had moved on as soon as we got the locker room,” Barry told FCF. “I know the reality of this game. You can win and you can lose, that’s a fact…You have to be able to accept that. If you can’t accept that before you start playing this game you shouldn’t be a part of it.

“If he had kicked my ass for three straight minutes and then knocked my ass out I may have been a little bit more bitter about it,” Barry added. “But I got punched and that’s part of what happens.”

In Struve, Barry will face another aggressive fighter who has been involved in several memorable bouts to date during his UFC tenure. The 23 year-old, Dutch fighter is coming off a KO loss to Travis Browne in May, after putting away Christian Morecraft and Sean McCorkle with strikes in back-to-back bouts.

“Someone is going to sleep in the first round,” said Barry. “At one point in time I would have said the other guy is definitely going to lose in the first round, but after my last fight, I can’t really make those threats anymore. Anything can happen. One of us is going to be laid out on the ground for a while.”

Of course, one of the significant challenges for Barry come fight night will be the reach advantage of the 6’11 tall Struve.

“Everybody that I’ve ever fought has been a lot taller than I am or their arms are longer than mine,” said Barry, who stands 5’11. “I’ve been in the ring before with guys that are 6’10, 6’11 before, I’ve done it once or twice.”

While much of Barry’s success to date has come through his extensive and dangerous striking abilities, the K-1 vet continues to take steps to evolve all aspects of his MMA game. Recently, Barry announced that he was relocating from the Roufusport team in Wisconsin, to train full time with the DeathClutch squad in Minnesota.

“In the beginning I was just hired help to help Brock (Lesnar) train for his fights with Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos,” Barry noted. “I guess I made a pretty good impression and I felt like I had a lot to gain from being out here, so I asked if I could make the move permanently and they accepted me.”

Due to the presence of renowned wrestlers like Lesnar and Bellator heavyweight champ Cole Konrad, in addition to trainers like Marty Morgan and Minnesota Martial Arts Academy instructor Greg Nelson, Barry has considerable resources to draw from to further improve his grappling skills.

“You have to evolve as a fighter to fit in with the masses; this is not just kickboxing or wrestling, you have to be able to take a fight anywhere,” said Barry. “Do I want to keep a fight standing? Absolutely, but it’s not out of my repertoire anymore to avoid going to the ground completely. That’s what the move was, to come out here and get better at wrestling and jiu-jitsu.”

“My strategy against anybody, whether your 6’11 or 5’9, I’m going to get really close to you and blow you up with my dynamite Mike Tyson arms,” Barry added. “That’s going to be the plan against anyone and everybody; I’m coming at you like a wild… roach.”

Photo credit: Pat Barry @HypeOrDie

 

 

 

posted by FCF Staff @ 1:54 pm
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