Post by lsa on Oct 29, 2009 3:42:09 GMT -5
Pat Barry came into UFC 104 with all the pressures of the world on his shoulders. Not only was he looking to get the obvious win, but the kickboxing stand-out desperately needed to prove his worth to himself and his former coach, Ernesto Hoost, who had given up on him. He also had to fight his good friend and former training partner, Antoni Hardonk, who refused to shake hands at the beginning of their bout. Barry insists that he and Hardonk are still great friends, but admits it felt great to beat a guy who still trains under his former coach.
You would think that having to fight a former training partner, facing possible UFC cuts and wanting to show up the man who gave up on you would be enough, but Barry also had heavy financial problems as he came into this fight with $0 to his name. After beating Hardonk and earning two UFC fight bonuses, the Duke Roufus product can rest a little easier for now.
FiveKnuckles.com: Is there a reason why Antoni Hardonk didn't touch gloves with you at the start of the fight?
Pat Barry: That's what he had to do to get himself mentally in the zone for this fight. He's a very nice guy. He's a very genuine guy. He's a respectful fighter and normally touches gloves with everybody else. This fight was emotionally draining for the both of us. That's basically what he needed to do to take me out of the friend category that I've always been in to him and view me as the enemy for our time in the cage, which isn't the easiest thing to do.
FiveKnuckles.com: Is there any bad blood between the two of you being that you're former training partners?
Pat Barry: Absolutely not. There never was. I know don't how that rumor got started. There's never been any bad blood between the two of us. We've always been friends; we're always going to be friends. He's a great guy, I learned a lot from him, and I'm glad to have met him.
FiveKnuckles.com: You got poked in the eye a couple times during the fight. How did that affect your performance?
Pat Barry: I was definitely startled by the first poke. I was a little shook up because I couldn't see. And it hurt (laughs). I really didn't know what to do. I kind of panicked and ran for cover, which I'm not sure if that was the manly thing to do or not (laughs). The first one really bothered me, the second one was more frustrating than anything else. It bothered me for a split second, but I was more upset that I got poked in eye twice during a fight with such a high caliber guy like Antoni.
FiveKnuckles.com: Were you surprised to win both "Knockout of the Night" and "Fight of the Night" honors?
Pat Barry: Yes, I was. I was definitely surprised to win both honors. I was especially surprised to win the "Knockout of the Night" because Anthony "Rumble" Johnson knocked his opponent [Yoshiyoki Yoshida] out with one strike, which was an impressive knockout. As soon as I saw someone else get knocked out, I just automatically assumed it wouldn't be me winning the award so I didn't want to get too excited about it. When I heard I got "Fight of the Night" as well, I was definitely surprised. To be totally honest with you, I didn't remember much of my fight because I was in it. I knew it was a good fight, but I didn't know it was that good.
FiveKnuckles.com: How do you feel about your overall performance?
Pat Barry: I did everything exactly the way I was supposed to do it. I did exactly what we trained for and followed the game plan to the tee. I didn't sway off the course, I did everything I was trained to do and it worked out perfectly. Duke Roufus is a genius.
FiveKnuckles.com: You were very emotional in your post-fight interview. Can you expand on that a little bit?
Pat Barry: Hey man, I showed up to this fight broke. When we got to Los Angeles on Tuesday, I had ZERO dollars to my LIFE. I'm not even joking around. I had nothing sitting in the bank, nothing under the mattress at home, not even a piggy bank; nothing at all. Two days before we got to LA, I was literally eating white rice and ketchup. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want anybody to worry or figure I was taking this fight for the money because I really wanted to fight. Financially I had nothing. I had no choice but to win.
FiveKnuckles.com: Looks like dinner's on you tonight.
Pat Barry: (laughs) You know it. Ain't that the truth?
FiveKnuckles.com: Besides the financial factor, was there anything else that served as motivation?
Pat Barry: Everything that goes into getting ready for a fight is an emotional process. All the bumps and bruises that I got during training; being away from home. The fact that I was fighting such a high-caliber guy in only my third UFC fight after coming off a loss knowing that the risk of being cut from the UFC was there. Also, the fact that I fought a guy who I've trained with before under Ernesto Hoost. Ernesto never thought I was good enough. He never thought that I was going to be anything or be good enough so the fact that I was able to beat a guy that is still active with him meant everything. That was the greatest fight of my life so far; this fight meant everything to me. It was the validation that I always wanted for the five years of being with Ernesto.
FiveKnuckles.com: Well, your happiness (and agility) showed in your back flip. Impressive.
Pat Barry: Hell yeah man (laughs). I heard a lot of people talking about that one. They obviously didn't know a water buffalo can fly. I'm a straight up ninja; I've been saying it from day one. I've got a lot more of that coming (laughing). I was supposed to do that after the Dan Evensen fight, but I got caught up in the moment. I almost forgot to do it again.
FiveKnuckles.com: A couple of your teammates had disappointing outcomes. Did you happen to see Eric Schafer and Ben Rothwell's performances?
Pat Barry: Those guys had very difficult opponents, especially Ben Rothwell. I don't think it was so much what Ben Rothwell did wrong as much as it was how on point Velasquez was. That guy came in determined. I didn't see Red Schafer's fight because I was backstage dealing with doctors and he was on right after me. I heard Red went to war with Ryan Bader and stood up with him the whole time. Red Schafer's a jiu-jitsu guy and was in there trading punches and kicks and took a lot of shots, but kept coming. He fought the distance with an experienced up-and-coming fighter. They both showed a lot of heart and I'm proud of both of them no matter what the outcome was.
FiveKnuckles.com: What's next for Pat Barry?
Pat Barry: Anybody who thinks they have the ability to stand and trade punches and kicks with me. I'm ready to go with anybody who the world considers to be an awesome striker because I'm taking over that entire category. It's going to be me. I'm going snakebite everyone until there's nobody left.
www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/UFC-104-post-fight-interview-with-Pat-Barry.html
Gotta love Pat, he is a great guy. It was nice to see he has improved his ground at least a little. I know Hardonk is NOT a ground guy but he is (?) a blue belt under a rickson bb.
And I am sure he trained ground a bit more than Pat.
You would think that having to fight a former training partner, facing possible UFC cuts and wanting to show up the man who gave up on you would be enough, but Barry also had heavy financial problems as he came into this fight with $0 to his name. After beating Hardonk and earning two UFC fight bonuses, the Duke Roufus product can rest a little easier for now.
FiveKnuckles.com: Is there a reason why Antoni Hardonk didn't touch gloves with you at the start of the fight?
Pat Barry: That's what he had to do to get himself mentally in the zone for this fight. He's a very nice guy. He's a very genuine guy. He's a respectful fighter and normally touches gloves with everybody else. This fight was emotionally draining for the both of us. That's basically what he needed to do to take me out of the friend category that I've always been in to him and view me as the enemy for our time in the cage, which isn't the easiest thing to do.
FiveKnuckles.com: Is there any bad blood between the two of you being that you're former training partners?
Pat Barry: Absolutely not. There never was. I know don't how that rumor got started. There's never been any bad blood between the two of us. We've always been friends; we're always going to be friends. He's a great guy, I learned a lot from him, and I'm glad to have met him.
FiveKnuckles.com: You got poked in the eye a couple times during the fight. How did that affect your performance?
Pat Barry: I was definitely startled by the first poke. I was a little shook up because I couldn't see. And it hurt (laughs). I really didn't know what to do. I kind of panicked and ran for cover, which I'm not sure if that was the manly thing to do or not (laughs). The first one really bothered me, the second one was more frustrating than anything else. It bothered me for a split second, but I was more upset that I got poked in eye twice during a fight with such a high caliber guy like Antoni.
FiveKnuckles.com: Were you surprised to win both "Knockout of the Night" and "Fight of the Night" honors?
Pat Barry: Yes, I was. I was definitely surprised to win both honors. I was especially surprised to win the "Knockout of the Night" because Anthony "Rumble" Johnson knocked his opponent [Yoshiyoki Yoshida] out with one strike, which was an impressive knockout. As soon as I saw someone else get knocked out, I just automatically assumed it wouldn't be me winning the award so I didn't want to get too excited about it. When I heard I got "Fight of the Night" as well, I was definitely surprised. To be totally honest with you, I didn't remember much of my fight because I was in it. I knew it was a good fight, but I didn't know it was that good.
FiveKnuckles.com: How do you feel about your overall performance?
Pat Barry: I did everything exactly the way I was supposed to do it. I did exactly what we trained for and followed the game plan to the tee. I didn't sway off the course, I did everything I was trained to do and it worked out perfectly. Duke Roufus is a genius.
FiveKnuckles.com: You were very emotional in your post-fight interview. Can you expand on that a little bit?
Pat Barry: Hey man, I showed up to this fight broke. When we got to Los Angeles on Tuesday, I had ZERO dollars to my LIFE. I'm not even joking around. I had nothing sitting in the bank, nothing under the mattress at home, not even a piggy bank; nothing at all. Two days before we got to LA, I was literally eating white rice and ketchup. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want anybody to worry or figure I was taking this fight for the money because I really wanted to fight. Financially I had nothing. I had no choice but to win.
FiveKnuckles.com: Looks like dinner's on you tonight.
Pat Barry: (laughs) You know it. Ain't that the truth?
FiveKnuckles.com: Besides the financial factor, was there anything else that served as motivation?
Pat Barry: Everything that goes into getting ready for a fight is an emotional process. All the bumps and bruises that I got during training; being away from home. The fact that I was fighting such a high-caliber guy in only my third UFC fight after coming off a loss knowing that the risk of being cut from the UFC was there. Also, the fact that I fought a guy who I've trained with before under Ernesto Hoost. Ernesto never thought I was good enough. He never thought that I was going to be anything or be good enough so the fact that I was able to beat a guy that is still active with him meant everything. That was the greatest fight of my life so far; this fight meant everything to me. It was the validation that I always wanted for the five years of being with Ernesto.
FiveKnuckles.com: Well, your happiness (and agility) showed in your back flip. Impressive.
Pat Barry: Hell yeah man (laughs). I heard a lot of people talking about that one. They obviously didn't know a water buffalo can fly. I'm a straight up ninja; I've been saying it from day one. I've got a lot more of that coming (laughing). I was supposed to do that after the Dan Evensen fight, but I got caught up in the moment. I almost forgot to do it again.
FiveKnuckles.com: A couple of your teammates had disappointing outcomes. Did you happen to see Eric Schafer and Ben Rothwell's performances?
Pat Barry: Those guys had very difficult opponents, especially Ben Rothwell. I don't think it was so much what Ben Rothwell did wrong as much as it was how on point Velasquez was. That guy came in determined. I didn't see Red Schafer's fight because I was backstage dealing with doctors and he was on right after me. I heard Red went to war with Ryan Bader and stood up with him the whole time. Red Schafer's a jiu-jitsu guy and was in there trading punches and kicks and took a lot of shots, but kept coming. He fought the distance with an experienced up-and-coming fighter. They both showed a lot of heart and I'm proud of both of them no matter what the outcome was.
FiveKnuckles.com: What's next for Pat Barry?
Pat Barry: Anybody who thinks they have the ability to stand and trade punches and kicks with me. I'm ready to go with anybody who the world considers to be an awesome striker because I'm taking over that entire category. It's going to be me. I'm going snakebite everyone until there's nobody left.
www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/UFC-104-post-fight-interview-with-Pat-Barry.html
Gotta love Pat, he is a great guy. It was nice to see he has improved his ground at least a little. I know Hardonk is NOT a ground guy but he is (?) a blue belt under a rickson bb.
And I am sure he trained ground a bit more than Pat.