Pat Barry Needs A Change In Scenery

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Pat Barry has one of the biggest personalities in the UFC heavyweight division. He seems like a great person to train with and just an all-around nice guy. You rarely hear of him trash-talking somebody or disrespecting another fighter. Unfortunately for Barry, none of that matters when you are buried deep in the UFC roster rankings.

An undersized heavyweight, Barry has never been able to get into a rhythm since joining the UFC in 2008. A win in his UFC debut against Dan Evensen gave him four wins in a row and would mark the last time Barry saw back-to-back victories.

Barry went on to lose against Tim Hague after defeating Evensen, a foreshadowing of how his career would be up until this point. Every win in the UFC for him has been followed by a loss. With that said, Barry has only loss back-to-back fights once (Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve).

His personality and fight style is the only reason he has not been cut by the UFC. Whether or not a run at the title will ever be in Barry’s future is uncertain. One thing that is for certain is that it won’t happen in the UFC if he continues to fight at heavyweight.

Although Barry only mentions putting on great fights for the fans, he has to want more somewhere in the back of his mind. He has basically been a puppet for UFC brass to use when they need ratings for a show. People love to tune in and watch Barry fight. After his fight Saturday against Soa Palelei, Barry really needs to think about his future in MMA. He probably gets paid more than other fighters with an 8-6 record, but he deserves more.

A move to light heavyweight would be a a nice change for him. He would have a chance to fight fresh opponents. Though he is 34-years-old, Barry doesn’t have a ton of fights in MMA. He still probably wouldn’t contend with the upper echelon of the division, but there could be potential money fights against fighters willing to stand with him.

If Barry loses to Palelei, he should consider a move to a different organization. Though he isn’t the most successful fighter in MMA, he carries a great name with him and would have a greater role in an organization like Bellator or the World Series of Fighting. He could probably contend for a title in either of those organizations.

With either of the aforementioned options available, Barry needs to decide what he wants his legacy to be. He can look back one day and say he was just a showman fighter who would fight anyone the UFC threw at him, or he can look back and say he tried to be a champion.

Anthony Cloud is a MMA Writer for Rant Sports. Like him on Facebook or follow him on Google.


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