Bryan Barbarena delivered a thunderous main card performance against Robbie Lawler at UFC 276 last Saturday, but it may never have come to be if he hadn’t received a contract extension back in March. On The MMA Hour, Barbarena explained his late-career position with the UFC.
“Absolutely, [I would have retired]. I talked about it. Nobody knew it was the last fight on my contract, maybe some diehards who pay attention to that, whatever, but I didn’t tell anybody besides my wife.
Barbarena Was Ready To Retire At UFC 276
I didn’t want the whole fight with Matt Brown to be about, ‘It’s the last fight on his contract, what is he going to do next, how much is it going to make him push harder?’ I didn’t want be about that. I wanted it to be about fighting Matt Brown and putting on a performance and beating him. So I waited, and after, it’s something we had talked about.”
His career was always about having a spot on the UFC roster. If that ended, so too would Bryan Barbarena’s time in MMA competition.
“My goal was to get to the UFC. That was the goal, to get here, stay here as long as possible. Obviously, I want to go out on my terms, but I still want to fight.
Like I said, I feel like I’m hitting my stride, I’m getting to my best, and I still want to fight and put on shows, but I wanted to do it in one organization, and that’s the UFC. When that ends, I’m done doing it, and I’m OK walking away.” After the Matt Brown fight, UFC president Dana White called Bryan Barbarena to grant him a contract extension.
Dana White, called me, we talked, we got it worked out. We left right after the fight [in Columbus], and we’re heading home to the farm, because we’ve got to take care of the animals and everything. Headed home and he Facetimed me on the drive, and he’s like, ‘You’re not going anywhere, we’re going to get this figured out.’
He said it was a hell of a fight; he was pumped up about the fight as well. We got it worked out, we got the paperwork sent out and here we are.” It might surprise some, but Byran Barbarena specifically wanted Robbie Lawler for this fight.
“It’s the fight that I wanted. I love the way Robbie fights. He brings it every time, tries to take your head off. That’s what excites me the most and what excited me about the fight.
When I asked for him, that was the sole reason. It wasn’t about him being the former champ or whatever anybody’s saying about his age or anything. I don’t care about that. He’s dangerous as hell. Some people still aren’t asking for him, and I wanted an exciting fight.”
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