Pat Barry vs. Shane Del Rosario (TUF 16 Finale)

[Rob_Floyd]

A battle between a pair of heavyweights has been added to the slate for the TUF 16 Finale.

Pat Barry (7-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC) and Shane Del Rosario (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) are targeted for a meeting in December. Sources with knowledge of the fight booking on Tuesday confirmed the matchup to MMAjunkie.com ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ]).

The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale takes place Dec. 15 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with a main event between TUF 16 coaches Shane Carwin (12-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Roy Nelson (17-7 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

In addition, of course, the TUF 16 Finale will include the welterweight finals of this season's show, which currently airs on Friday nights on FX. Barry is one of Carwin's assistant coaches on the show.

Barry finds himself in fairly critical need of a victory. The popular heavyweight is just 1-3 in his past four fights. In May, Barry suffered a first-round TKO loss to Lavar Johnson at UFC on FOX 3. That fight was a trip back to the loss column after a January "Fight of the Night" knockout win over Christian Morecraft at UFC on FX 1.

But prior to that victory, Barry lost consecutive fights to Cheick Kongo by knockout and Stefan Struve by submission. In the former, Barry nearly had Kongo finished, but the big man, despite being out on his feet, survived and stunned Barry with a knockout punch in one of the most talked-about comebacks in MMA history.

Del Rosario in May made his UFC debut, but suffered a second-round TKO stoppage against Stipe Miocic on the promotion's all-heavyweight main card at UFC 146. That was Del Rosario's first fight under the UFC banner after going 3-0 with three first-round stoppages for Strikeforce.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]


For those of you out there that aren't big fans of the ground game, this match should please you. I would say it's almost a must win for both guys. Pretty certain that someone is getting knocked out in this one. Shane is more likely the more skilled grappler if it does hit the ground, but Barry has been improving.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdllpIi_6lk[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFm4DWyyx9A[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJsweq3AmCs[/ame]

[scurlaruntings]

I'm actually looking forward to this. Barry needs to do himself a favour though and drop to 205. He's getting his ass routinely kicked at heavy.

[BobDigi5060]

Pat Barry is a sack of shit, and would be a better fighter if he weren't seeking attention through his youtube stunts.

If he hasn't had any sense knocked into him yet I don't know what will.

[BobDigi5060]

Originally Posted by scurlaruntings

I'm actually looking forward to this. Barry needs to do himself a favour though and drop to 205. He's getting his ass routinely kicked at heavy.

He could probably make weight, but won't be worth a shit.. Even less of a fighter than he is now.

Pat Barry doesn't have the bone structure and body type to drop weight and become a Contender.

[Flea Man]

I really like Barry, but Del Rosario could potentially be a solid fighter IMO.

Torn on how I want it to go, but it's guaranteed to be fun.

[greathamza]

Both could KO the other

[Haggis McJackass]

Originally Posted by scurlaruntings

I'm actually looking forward to this.

Originally Posted by scurlaruntings

Barry needs to do himself a favour though and drop to 205. He's getting his ass routinely kicked at heavy.

Reckon he's too much of an endomorph to get down there with any sort of comfort. He strikes me as one of those unfortunate guys who is naturally a little bit too big and fat for LHW, but too small to compete with the elite HWs.

Originally Posted by Flea Man

I really like Barry, but Del Rosario could potentially be a solid fighter IMO.

Torn on how I want it to go, but it's guaranteed to be fun.

Yeah I feel the same. You want Del Rosario to establish a place for himself, but how can you not cheer for Barry to win, he's such a fan-friendly guy and he needs this win. One of those fights where you're kind of gutted for either man if he loses. It's not as bad for that as Struve-Barry was though. I hardly even wanted to see that fight. This one I'm cheering for Barry.

[PivotPunch]

Great fight but I don't want either of them to lose. Barry should change camp Deathclutch has big wrestlers but that's not what he needs, I think his stand up got worse he should have never lost to Johnson. He should join the Blackzillians there are very good wrestler AND stand up fighters he is a kickboxer he needs someone like Overeem and Spong to train with

[Rob_Floyd]

DeathClutch closed its doors shortly after Cole Kondrad retired. Pat is working with Greg Nelson at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. The only relevent fighter I can think of at The Academy these days is Jacob Volkmann, but I don't see him helping Barry out too much...

He would be a good fit at Blackzilians, for sure.

[Lynchburg]

Awesome fight!

This will be Pat's last UFC fight in my opinion! I can see him going to sleep...

Lynchburg