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Pat ‘HD’ Barry is not a fan of flying. “Being in Australia is great,” Barry revealed. “The travel to Australia what I was not looking forward to.
“I was looking forward to a boat or a car – maybe they have a highway that floats, who knows.
“I’m not a fan of airplanes, I don’t want to do it.
“The 14 hour flight from San Francisco to here I sat next to – you ready for this one – a 19-year-old Mormon who was on a mission.”
This Saturday, he will square off against Australian Soa ‘The Hulk’ Palelei at UFC Fight Night 33: Hunt versus Bigfoot in a battle of heavyweight hard-hitters.
When asked what he knew about his opponent prior to this, the American was not short on praise:
“Before this, I knew he was like 6’5” and 900 pounds, and he has the voice of Optimus Prime.
“The first time I remember speaking to him it was like ‘Hello, mate’ but it wasn’t a deep human voice.”
As far as the Aussie’s skills go, Barry was equally flattering.
“He’s a big guy. He’s a striker – he’s supposedly a wrestler and a jiu-jitsu guy but he’s got a lot of knockouts so he’s a striker. He’s dangerous everywhere.
“Once you get to the UFC, this is the best of the best. Everyone here is a threat – even guys [like me] with glasses.”
In Soa’s previous effort, he lumbered his way to a lacklustre TKO victory over Nikita Krylov. It was later revealed ‘The Hulk’ fought with broken ribs.
As Barry puts it, “If anyone’s ever had any type of rib damage before, they know it’s really hard to punch and kick let alone just breathe, period.
“He was able to do that for 15 straight minutes and then end up with a TKO? That’s amazing.
“Being able to do that is like running a race with no feet.”
When asked who the harder hitter of the two is, Barry was quick to respond.
“I do [hit harder]. I’d bet anything that I hit harder than he does.”
Barry has long been a fan-favourite in the UFC. His combination of high-level kickboxing, knockout power and jovial wit have endeared him to many fans across the globe.
With a 4-6 record inside the Octagon, some have been quick to relegate ‘HD’ to gatekeeper status, a status which suits him just fine.
“As long as I’m getting phone calls to fight in the UFC, that’s a victory in itself.
“I don’t really know what the term ‘gatekeeper’ is defined as. I’ve heard the term before and that’s fine. I’m a UFC gatekeeper? That’s fine.
“As long as my name is there and I’m standing there in [the cage] when the bell rings.
“Whoever stands across from me is in danger, that’s a fact.”
Regardless of his status in the UFC heavyweight division, one thing is for certain – Pat Barry loves being a fighter.
“[Being a fighter] is awesome because we get to do what we’ve been wanting to do our entire lives.
“I’m sure there a lot of people who do this because they didn’t do too well at something else, so they kind of resorted to fighting.
“There’s a big portion of us out there who’ve been road warrior ninjas our entire lives, man.”
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