Pat Barry. One of the most feared and versatile heavyweight fighters in the world. Anybody seen him lately? Really, anybody know where he is? And please, don’t tell me that guy at UFC 161 was Pat Barry, because it wasn’t.
One of the best kickboxers around seems to have lost his shine. A man that should be tearing his way through opponents and making a beeline towards championship contention in an unbelievably thin division is a shell of his former self.
Pat Barry is a beast. He IS a beast, not was, not could be, he IS. However part of what makes a fighter great is who he trains with. That’s where he is lacking. I believe that Pat Barry has not been the same since training with the ill-fated, short lived, creatively (yet falsely advertised) Team Deathclutch. Ye team of he of man who goeth by Lesnar. Ever since being on that team Pat Barry has been a model of inconsistency. Trading wins and loses like kids use to trade cards.
Barry needs to align himself with a team that will not only challenge him physically, but that will help him put in order that which ails him most, his mind. You see when training with Team Deathclutch Barry had one of the few men that could actually push him physically on his side. But he was on a team that had little to no experience in creating a game plan. Also there was no one there qualified to work on the mental aspect of the fight game. Now, obviously the reason for this was simple, no one cared. Seriously. Brock Lesnar got away with using his unique physical gifts to steamroll opponents. However, once opponents started to adjust and figure him out, what did he do? Did he try to change his style? Did he at least change the manner in which he went about his fights? No. What did he do? He gave up, quit and literally closed up shop, leaving Barry and others out in the wind. They might want to say it another way or tell a story about what “really” happened, but if you follow MMA you know the truth. That showed the mental weakness that the leader of the team had.
Pat Barry needs to game plan, he needs to prepare better and he needs to remember that he is a beast in a division tailor made for him to shine in. If Barry adds a ground game to his arsenal (which I know he has been working on) while maximizing his natural talent for stand up destruction, he will have true success once again. To do this he needs someone to get him in touch with his past self, with that kickboxing beast of a fighter. My suggestion is simple, head south to New Mexico and do at least part of your training camps with Greg Jackson. Trust me, even with Frank Mir training there, they would make room for someone like Pat Barry, and Barry needs to train with Frank Mir caliber fighters, even if he’ll probably end up fighting them in the octagon because of the nature of the division.
The MMA world needs the Pat Barry of old, he’s just too good to for us to believe that what happened saturday night is the new norm for him.
What do you think guys/gals? Can Pat Barry change his fortunes with a new gym/trainer or is he on the down swing of his MMA career? COMMENT BELOW
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