Ring of Combat 56: Return of Brendan Barrett
Brendan Barrett‘s fight career feels like a series of journeys inside of a journey. Set aside for a moment the fact that he is a 10-year pro MMA veteran, and that he is defending his Ring of Combat Heavyweight Championship on Friday, September 23rd. That much is routine for him by now. “I feel really good. I mean, I had a great camp. I’ve been basically one training camp to the next for almost two years straight now. Mentally, physically, I’m ready to go,” he says. But consider, for a moment, that the man nicknamed “Brutal” has essentially coached himself for the majority of his career, and has traveled the country seeking training.
When New York Fighting caught up with Mr. Barrett, the New Jersey native was in Cape Cod, MA. Unintentionally vague on the specifics (such as gym names, coaches and training partners), Barrett explained that his camp for this fight had been based out of that region.
“I’m actually out here training right now. I came out here mid / end of June. And, well, my boy out here needed some help,” Barrett explained. “I mean I’ve been out here a bunch of times before, doing some strength and conditioning, you know, some Crossfit stuff out here. I spent some time training for one of my boxing fights out here. So, when I came out here, he needed some more help, and it was good for me to basically be away, more isolated, less distractions, and just ended up keeping my whole camp out here.” Simple as that. He has trained at a couple of places in there area for this fight, and outside of the state as well, mentioning Animals MMA in Yonkers, NY among others, “for different looks than I’m getting out here.” Seeking “different looks” is a hallmark of Barrett’s regimen.
For different fights, and between fights, Brendan Barrett never seems to stay in the same place too long. “I’ve been in the game a really long time,” he explains. “It depends on who I’m fighitng, what kinds of looks I’m getting. I’ve been in Oregon, I’ve been in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, New York, Long Island, I’ve been kind of a little all over the place just trying to get the best of what I can find, depending on who I’m fighing and what kind of style.”
This is not to say that he is an unwelcome presence in gyms, or that he is a dangerous training partner, or has a bad attitude. He just likes it this way. “Wherever I’m at, while I’m training there, I’m always giving back, helping fighters out. It’s kind of my nature because I’ve had so many people help me, that’s how I pay it forward, you know? Guys where I can teach them, or give them some advice, or help them out in some way.” Asked if he ever received a negative vibe as a pro fighter traveling from state to state for training, he said, “Believe it or not, no, because of how I approach things. I usually contact someone and set it up ahead of time. I won’t just show up and say ‘Hey I want to spar some of your guys.’ I’ll set it up ahead of time, or it’ll be an invite, or some guys that I just know from being out here.” He mentioned a recent trip to Oregon where he ended up teaching some classes at the gym owner’s request, and even cornering a local MMA fighter from the gym.
Needless to say, he has not had a consistent trainer or team for some time. Asked who was training him for this fight, or who he considers his coaches to be, Barrett began to laugh. “I’ve pretty much been doing my own thing for quite a while. I’ve always traveled, different places, different looks, work with different people. I’ve kind of been training myself for the last several years, and just, you know, going where I feel comfortable.”
That comfort seems to have yielded some results, as Barrett has not lost a fight since 2011, despite his two-year absence. However, this success may be due to more than just learing from different coaches. “A major thing, that I never knew, is that I had exercise-induced asthma.” The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America describes this as a condition that includes coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath that does not usually occur at the start of exercise, but begins during exercise and lasts 20 to 30 minutes.
“I used to think I was out of shape because I would get gassed out, and it was really that I just couldn’t breathe,” Barrett says. “So I would go and train even harder. I ended up burning myself out really bad, they ended up doing hormone tests on me and this and that.” Hormone tests also revealed a thyroid disorder as well. Just knowing that the asthma is there, “I make adjustments with diet and training, and just mental clarity, knowing that like, hey if I feel a little weaker this is why. So it doesn’t take a toll mentally on me. And it’s been a couple of years since they figured that out, I got to the point where I know how to, to an extent, control it. You know, homeopathic stuff and what not. So I notice a big difference in my fighting, and then again it’s really how bad do you want it? You know? I’ve been doing this for so long and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.” He summed up the situation by saying, “I’m going into these fights and maybe performing at 50% and still performing at the level I am at. If I can get to 100% I can’t wait to see what happens.”
Asthma was not the only obstacle in Barrett’s fight career. When he enters the Ring of Combat cage to face his opponent, Shelton Graves, Brendan Barrett will not have fought MMA in over two years. “Initially I had to fix my hand. When I broke it against Miodrag [Petkovic], there were complications from surgery, the steel plate in my hand broke, they had to go back in there to the broken bone, put an bigger plate in there. So my hand was really screwed up.” Then the surgeon told him he didn’t need to take the plate out of his hand. “I went into the fight, and as soon as I landed a right hand I shattered it. The steel screws went through my bone. But I didn’t want to lose the fight so I kept hitting him with it, and it actually should have ended my career. But a miracle surgeon fixed my hand. And you can imagine I was a little hesitant to get back. I wanted to make sure it was fully healed. And then when I was cleared to train, I’ve been training nonstop ever since.”
“I had five professional boxing fights in the meantime,” he says. This is “a passion that I’ve been wanting to pursue.” Barrett had five fights and did not lose once, but he knew it was time to return to MMA. “I was itching to get back in the cage. Especially if I’m knocking out pro boxers, I thought ‘I wonder what I can do in an MMA fight now.’”
Barrett plans to take more boxing matches in the future, but for now his focus is trained on his Shelton Graves, for whom he harbors no ill will. “I know that he’s a really respectful guy. He actually sent me a message and reached out to me about a year ago. He said ‘I really respect you and everything you’ve accomplished and done in the sport, which is why I thought you should hear it from me first that I asked to fight for the Ring of Combat Heavyweight Title. I don’t know if they’re going to give me the fight or not, but out of respect for you I wanted you to hear it from me.’ And, you know, that sat well with me, you see those guys that have the old school respect and martial arts mentality. So I said it would be an honor to share the cage with him.”
“As a fighter, he’s a strong guy,” Barrett says of his heavyweight opponent. “He can take a hit, and give one. He’s gonna want to pressure me and put me up against the cage, and dictate his fight and gameplan. And I want to go in there and dictate mine. I know I have a lot more experience, especially in my boxing fights, but I’m not taking him lightly. I just have to make sure I’m prepared for anything and everything.” Barrett claims not to lay out a gameplan for his fights, or spend too much time trying to analyze his opponents as he did earlier in his career. Instead he focuses on what he wants to do to his opponents.
And lest fans get lost in stories of Barrett’s travels through different gyms and physical obstacles, he reminds us that he is a fighter through and through. “I could be sitting in an office somewhere pulling down probably six figures, actually use my degree and my education, but, for whatever reason, I can’t explain it, it’s just in my DNA, this is who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing. I never in a million years thought I’d end up fighting. It was never a plan, but once I started doing it there was no question – this is where I belong.” He notes that he did not initially start training and then decide to fight. He decided that he wanted to fight, and then started training for his first fight.
At the end of the day, the man’s nickname is “Brutal,” and that should speak for itself about his intentions in the cage. “I just look at it as I’m there to do a job, I’m there to be exciting. And if I knock you out I’m not gonna be getting screwed out of a decision.” His last MMA fight was a mauling. The battle was waged on the feet and on the floor, but in both phases Barrett was looking to assault and pressure his opponent with punches en route to a TKO stoppage. He will look to retain his title with another brutal performance on September 23rd. “You know, I caught a lot of really bad breaks in my career, and I decided I didn’t like it. So I decided if I knock someone out and they’re not getting up, they can’t take it away from me.”
Brendan Barrett would like to thank his sponsors: HITM Promotions, D Brown Heating & Air, Sweet Jenny’s, The Law Offices of Paul S. Haberman, Richard Catena Auto Wholesalers, Bixler Electric Inc., Olde Towne Floors, Just Braggin’ Professional Salon, and Drenzymes.com. His website is www.butalbrendanbarrett.com.
Writer: Kyle Antonelli
Original Photos: RingOfCombat.com
