Pat Barry Returns at UFC 98

Undefeated Patrick Barry (4-0) will fight Tim Hague at UFC 98.

After what will have been a five month layoff from fighting in the UFC, kickboxing phenom and top UFC heayvweight prospect Pat Barry will return to the UFC to fight Canadian warrior Tim “The Thrashing Machine” Hague.

Barry is not a huge heavyweight. At 5’11 and 235 pounds, Barry looks, in some respects, more suited for the UFC lightheavyweight division than the heavyweight division, which seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Still, Barry’s power is impressive, and when he put away Dan Evenson halfway through round one with leg kicks , he looked pretty impressive, delivering explosive kicks that many expected from the K-1 veteran.

Now, training periodically with the big boys at Miletich Fighting Systems and continuing to develop a kickboxing game that even the top strikers in the division (Cheick Kongo and Antoni Hardonk) might be concerned about, Barry is poised to become a real threat to the division.

Though many will consider Barry a relatively green fighter, with only four professional MMA bouts, at 29 years old, Barry is a veteran of twenty five kickboxing matches, with a record of 18-6-1, a handful of those wins coming during his stint in K-1.

If Barry is really going to study the sport of mixed martial arts and takes the development of his ground skills seriously, learning to deal with powerful and technical fighters, like the warriors at MFS, then he could be a serious challenger for anyone and everyone in this division.

His kickboxing background is worth noting, if for no other reason than that it makes clear a certain level of power and explosiveness. It doesn’t always mean that a fighter will be dominant in MMA (not all K-1 fighters make the transition), but Barry’s powerful, single shot style seems like a good fit for MMA.

Of course, Tim Hague is no joke. At 6’4 and 260 pounds, he will be no small test for Barry and, having never been stopped in his MMA career (his lone loss coming by way of Split Decision), it’s going to be interesting to see how the short, stocky kickboxer chooses to address his sizeable opponent, or if he will be overwhelmed by a destructive warrior.

Hague is coming off of a seven month layoff, but I’m sure he’ll be ready for his UFC debut, and neither of these warriors will take the other lightly, which should make for an exciting fight, whether it ends up getting broadcast or not.