Barry serves up a huge win in Dubai
By Stephen Leonard
DEAN Barry carded his biggest win to date in MMA when he served up a first round knockout to the highly-rated Abdulla Al Bousheiri in the UAE Warriors 13 show in Dubai on Friday.
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.
Tallaght’s Dean Barry celebrates the biggest win of his MMA career so far after beating Abdulla Al Bousheiri in Dubai on Friday
Speaking to The Echo after returning home, Barry said “It was just a great feeling. Coming into that fight he had seven wins and just one loss and he’d had knockouts in his last six fights.
“Loads of fighters were avoiding him, but I took that fight because I wanted to make a statement.
“He’s very strong at Jiu Jitsu and he managed to take me down early in the fight and hit me a few punches, but I stayed calm and got back to my feet.
“I then just battered him with my striking. He tried to take me down three more times and I avoided that and kept kicking the stomach out of him.
“I rocked him bad with a right and then I knocked him out a few seconds after when I stepped into the southpaw position and caught him clean on the chin.
“It was a great win and I got to show off my grappling as well. It was my first fight in a year because I had five fights fall through.
“I moved up a weight to 74kg. I normally fight at 70kg. I found that easy to do, but it was very hard emotionally before the fight. He’s treated like a super star there and I got so sick when I was there.”
The victory was a massive boost for Barry who had to deal with the heartbreak of losing his beloved grandmother to a tragic accident back in March.
And it could well have paved the way for an opportunity to fight for a UFC contract at the Contender Series in Las Vegas in November.
Certainly the victory was a massive breakthrough for Barry who added “I’m a very very proud Tallaght man and that’s who I represent.”
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