Pat Barry vs. Soa Palelei Added To UFN 33: Brisbane
Ultimate fight night 33 is shaping up to be another stacked card, adding to the already awesome schedule 2013 has offered so far. Already booked to feature Shogun Rua vs. James Te Huna and Mark Hunt vs. Bigfoot Silva, the card has also had a showdown between Soa Palelei and Pat Barry thrown in.
UFC officials confirmed the booking will go down on December 14th, and I’m actually looking forward to this one. Barry has long been a fan favorite for his aggressive striking and Palelei has heavy hands.
It’s been a mixed bag for both guys since joining the UFC; Barry has racked up a 5-6 record in the UFC, suffering either a submission or knockout in each loss. He most recently showed up and got blasted in under a minute, succumbing to Shawn Jordan’s ham fists at UFC 161.
Palelei has only ever fought twice in the UFC; his debut was back in 2007 against Eddie Sanchez. ‘The Hulk’ lost by TKO after dominating the early rounds and was sent wondering in to the wilderness of regional MMA organizations. Soa racked up 11 wins outside of the UFC, his only loss coming to future star Daniel Cormier, and was once again signed with the UFC this year.
His return bout was slightly less than sweet, he scored a third round TKO win over Nikita Krylov in a slow paced match. Both guys were visibly gassed by the end of the opening stanza, but gutted it out for another two rounds.
Later news revealed that Palelei had broken a rib prior to the fight, making his third round rally to victory look like less of a gas fest, and more of a show of guts. If he can work on his cardio, with his size and power he could be a legitimate force.
Barry really needs to pull a win out of the bag here, he has suffered too many losses for his entertaining style to save him from the cut again. He has pretty much lost to every mid to high level fighter he has faced in MMA and I think he can do better.
Whatever the case, it looks like fans are in for another night of barn burners at UFN 33.
