Barry remaining upbeat after the postponement of his UFC debut
By Stephen Leonard
DEAN Barry is focusing on all the positives after his UFC debut against Mike Jackson was pushed back from January 20 to March or April.
With his opponent apparently having been unable to secure a passport for the upcoming clash in Abu Dhabi and Covid restrictions undercutting any chance of sorting a replacement in time, the Tallaght man will have to wait that bit longer to make his entrance on to the UFC stage.
Tallaght’s Dean Barry is remaining positive after his UFC debut against Mike Jackson was pushed back to March/April
Still, while he was preparing both physically and mentally to fulfil a long-time dream this month, he is confident the postponement of his debut will work in his favour.
Indeed the fact that he will have another two-three months of training in the bag and will be able to work with coach Owen Roddy, who is now helping Conor McGregor prepare for this much-anticipated rematch with Dustin Poirier, can only be positives for Barry.
“It will give me more time to train” said Barry. “I haven’t been able to link up with my own coach Owen because he’s been over in Portugal working with Conor ahead of his fight.
“I was also sick for a few weeks over Christmas so I didn’t have the best preparation, but this way I’ll have a full camp and can get my programme sorted.
“It was disappointing when I heard the fight was being postponed, but I didn’t drop everything and go out partying. I actually went on a 10km run.
“I’m still working away with my pads coach and still training, keeping on top of things.
“You never know, I could be fighting in Las Vegas in front of my family and friends later in the year.
“Another thing was I felt that my fight would have been overshadowed by Conor’s with him just fighting a couple of days after me, so at least there’ll be that bit more hype for my debut” he added.
And Barry is in no doubt that he will be making a winning entrance into the UFC as he gears up the challenge of Jackson.
“He’s a tall rangy boxer, he was a pro boxer, but I’m very confident I’ll beat him” said Barry.
“I’ve fought guys like that and even better. The last guy I beat [Abdulla Al Bousheiri] was 6 and 0 and this fella isn’t, so I’m very confident I’ll beat him” he insisted.
Barry’s rise to the top ranks of international MMA has been nothing short of phenomenal given that he made the move into the sport just three years back.
In that period he fought four times and carded three victories- his most spectacular coming back in September when he served up a first-round knockout to the highly-rated Al Bousheiri in the UAE Warriors 13 show in Dubai.
Having weathered an early take-down by his 7 and 1 opponent, the Tallaght man produced a demonstration of quality striking that ended with a left to the chin, sending Al Bousheiri to the floor.
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