Shara “Bullet” Magomedov appeared to have had a disappointing night time within the opening spherical of his bout towards Michel Pereira at UFC Baku.
Saturday’s co-main occasion pitted two middleweights on the lookout for their second consecutive win, and early on it appeared like Pereira would pull off the upset by dropping Barrett with a proper hand. Barrett someway weathered the storm and took management of the bout, outscoring Pereira within the subsequent two rounds to earn a unanimous choice victory.
On the UFC Baku post-fight press convention, Barrett defined to reporters the tough spherical 1 sequence and the way he was in a position to come again.
“I got here out of there understanding that in an effort to get me out of there, he needed to kill me,” Barrett mentioned by means of a Russian translator. “I used to be able to die in that Octagon. I missed that proper hand and was ready for that proper. I wished to place him on that proper and I ended up lacking that proper. However I did not get discouraged. I used to be engaged on my photographs even after I was on the backside.”
“I used to be attempting to get him and I used to be going to reap the benefits of it as a result of I noticed him bounce on me and I noticed him attempting to complete me off and I smelled the blood within the water. He wished to make use of that to form of finish the battle and I wished to make use of it towards him. I undoubtedly wished to get him and reap the benefits of it from my aspect.”
After this eventful first spherical, the liveliness of the match diminished significantly, with neither fighter in a position to put collectively a lot significant offense, and Pereira at occasions showing to deal with Barrett quite than exchanging photographs.
To Barrett, it was no shock that Pereira abruptly grew to become a floor fighter.
“I might see him going for the takedown,” Barrett mentioned. “All of the fighters who’ve been with me since my debut within the UFC flip into wrestlers. Everybody desires to wrestle with me as a result of nobody desires to battle me. Nobody desires to face in entrance of me and make me have a match with them. So that they’re all ready for it. They’re ready for me to get a pair photographs after which attempt to counter me. , they’re hoping a fortunate punch lands, and that is how they are going to take it over. They need to have realized that as a substitute of doing mixture photographs, as a substitute of doing full mixtures, they need to be hitting extra one, one, one or two, as a result of that is what labored very well for them.
“I landed that knee, however for some cause it did not finish the battle, and I assumed it was going to finish the battle. It did not work, so I simply needed to maintain going, maintain going, and discover new and attention-grabbing methods to complete him off.”
At present on a successful streak for the primary time since late 2024, Barrett hopes to face a ranked opponent subsequent. However he turned down two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s supply, respecting the opinion of his good friend Abs Magomedov, who known as out Adesanya after his win earlier within the present.
Whoever it’s, Barrett is raring to battle once more and proceed to develop his fan base.
“I am a pirate and I am prepared to beat new lands. I am prepared to come back out wherever the UFC is available in, and I wish to be sure that I win the hearts of the followers and seize new lands and conquer new lands and ensure I get all the cash from all the brand new locations,” Barrett mentioned. “I do not wish to give particular names. Whoever the UFC provides me, I am able to battle them. Anybody within the high 15, high 10, even high 5, I am able to battle anybody. I am aggressive and prepared to take any battle. I am actually grateful for each battle and each alternative the UFC has given me.”
