UFC on Versus 6 (Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve)

[basblue]

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[Yogi1]

Pat Barry talking about training for Struve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TolN4...e_gdata_player

[Kemal]

Pat Barry Downplays Stefan Struve's Reach Advantage

Pat Barry is the shortest heavyweight in the UFC, and on Saturday night he's preparing to step into the Octagon with the UFC's tallest fighter, Stefan Struve.

But the 5-foot-11 Barry says he has no reason to fear the reach advantage of the 6-foot-11 Struve, saying that he has long since grown accustomed to fighting taller fighters, and noting that shorter men have found a way to beat Struve in the past.

"I don't think it'll be that big of a deal in this fight," Barry said of the reach difference. "Everybody Stefan comes across, fights and trains with is shorter than he is. Everybody that I come across, fight and train with is taller than I am. So this fight is going to be everything normal. How often does Stefan Struve come across someone taller than him? Not very often. And I haven't come across many heavyweights shorter than I am. So I think this is going to be pretty normal. I'm accustomed to guys being taller than I am and Stefan is accustomed to guys shorter than he is."

Still, Barry said he made a point of finding a tall sparring partner who could help him out in preparation for the Struve fight.

"I found a guy I call the black Struve," Barry said. "Maurice Green, who's 6-foot-9, he's a guy who came in for three weeks, a wrestler turned kickboxer out of Chicago. He was a guy I brought in in order to find my range and work my distance. And then we'd have Marty Morgan, who's 6-foot-3, stand on a stool while I threw punches and kicks at him."

Struve said he hopes he can prove Barry wrong and demonstrate that reach is a big deal in MMA. But he also acknowledged that he has made tactical mistakes in the past and allowed short fighters to get in close to him, most notably in Struve's most recent fight, a knockout loss to Travis Browne.

"I'm a lot taller than he is and I plan on using the reach, stand on the outside and pick him apart," Struve said. "The last fight I made a stupid mistake, I was coming in and he was coming in with his punch. I should have used my reach better, but I've been working with that with new coaches and I've improved a lot with that. I'm always working on getting better on the outside and trying to use my reach as I should. "

At 5-foot-8, Dominick Cruz, the UFC bantamweight champion who will fight in Saturday's main event, is also accustomed to having a reach advantage in his fights. Cruz noted that Struve has a major reach advantage over Barry, and that Cruz himself will have a significant reach advantage against his opponent Saturday, the 5-foot-3 Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson.

"Reach is a big deal as long as you know how to use it," Cruz said. "A short fighter has to know how to fight like a short fighter, a tall fighter has to know how to fight like a tall fighter. It's very easy for a tall fighter to get sucked into the inside game. The only reason reach is worth anything is if you know how to use it and stay on the outside, force the other guy to telegraph kicks, telegraph punches, telegraph shots. I definitely think reach is a big advantage and something that can be used very effectively."

For Struve, the question is whether he can take that reach advantage he always has, and use it effectively -- as he too often hasn't. Barry is hoping the reach advantage turns out to be a non-factor.

[micha]

war stefan

[Mr 1 Leg]

war Struve!


edit: even bij elkaar gezet

x2

[Mule-Kick]

Pat Barry Downplays Stefan Struve's Reach Advantage
"I'm a lot taller than he is and I plan on using the reach, stand on the outside and pick him apart," Struve said. "The last fight I made a stupid mistake, I was coming in and he was coming in with his punch. I should have used my reach better, but I've been working with that with new coaches and I've improved a lot with that. I'm always working on getting better on the outside and trying to use my reach as I should. "

Nieuwe coaches?

[Sander V.]

WAR STRUVE!!

[yuko]

Nieuwe coaches?

Hij traint wel vaker bij andere trainers toch. Dit betekend niet dat zijn hoofdtrainer is ontslagen, ze huren gewoon externe krachten in, zoals bv Remco Pardoel

[wrestler_nl]

Pat Barry talking about training for Struve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TolN4...e_gdata_player

loool

[remco pardoel]

Stefan en Bob zijn een en ze huren extern wat mensen in om andere inzichten onder de knie te krijgen.
Stefan was al heel erg goed voordat ik met hem aan de slag mocht. En ik hoop dat het er nu eruit komt waar we maanden op getraind hebben.

War Stefan

[kooivechter]

Pat Barry talking about training for Struve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TolN4...e_gdata_player

haha kwam niet meer bij, echt een goeie. maar ben wel eens wat petrosyan zegt, wat zjin veel negatief over struve.
ik denk wanneer hij een zijn hoofd erbij houdt, met een game plan komt en zich daar aan houdt zonder teveel flying knees hij relatief makkelijk gaat winnen. Hij heeft nog steeds alles in zich om een top 5 heavy weight te worden.

[Kemal]

[wrestler_nl]

Mijn Picks:

Preliminary card (Facebook)

• Bantamweight bout: Walel Watson vs. Joseph Sandoval ????
• Welterweight bout: Josh Neer vs. Keith Wisniewski Josh Neer via TKO
• Lightweight bout: Shane Roller vs. TJ Grant Roller via dec
• Bantamweight bout: Mike Easton vs. Byron Bloodworth ???
• Lightweight bout: Michael Johnson vs. Paul Sass Paul Sass via sub
• Lightweight bout: Yves Edwards vs. Rafaello Oliveira Yves Edward via dec

Main card

• Lightweight bout: Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig Danzig via sub

• Welterweight bout: Anthony Johnson vs. Charlie Brenneman Johnson via KO

• Heavyweight bout: Pat Barry vs. Stefan Struve Barry via KO

• Bantamweight Championship: Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Demetrious Johnson Johnson via dec

[Kemal]

Cruz Resets for Title Bout, While Johnson Hopes to Complete Underdog Story

On the surface, Dominick Cruz has settled into the role of champion nicely. He's successfully defended the bantamweight title three times, established himself as one of the sport's pound-for-pound best fighters, and headlines his second straight UFC event at Saturday night's UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson.

Yet Cruz seems to go out of his way to remind himself that it can all change in an instant. He hasn't splurged on a big house or fancy car. Instead, he lives on the cheap and saves his money for a rainy day that might never come. Those reminders serve as motivation for training, and the mindset extends even to his most prized possession: his title belt.

"Really, I'm not going out there to defend anything. I'm going out there to win something new every single time I go out and fight for a title," he said in a Thursday press conference from the Newseum in Washington D.C. "I don't own anything. It's always up for grabs, so I have to always stay on top and stay focused and go out there to win something new, so that's it. This will be like my first time winning it."

Should Cruz beat Demetrious Johnson (10-1) on Saturday, it may feel like a first time for him, but it would mark his fourth straight defense of the 135-pound belt, surpassing the three successful defenses made by Miguel Torres when the belt was a WEC property.

Cruz has done it with a style all his own, mixing active striking and strong wrestling with endless stamina to wear down opponents over time. Overall, he's won nine straight, and on the strength of his 18-1 overall record, his .948 winning percentage is among the best in major MMA.

Rather than falling complacent though, Cruz continually surveys the landscape of his division and considers the oncoming challengers.

"Success feels good," he said. "I'm a fighter and this is what I do. I love to do it. I love my job. It's easy to stay motivated if you see all these maniacs coming up in my division. They all want to beat me up. What other motivation do I need?"

In Johnson, Cruz may be facing the fastest opponent he's ever faced. At just 5-foot-3 and with a 66-inch reach, Johnson has some distance to navigate, but if anyone can figure it out how to make an unlikely journey, it's the man that's nicknamed "Mighty Mouse."

Johnson's rise to one of the division's best has been a largely untold story, though it is one worth telling. He's not a pedigreed athlete with a following who got major breaks along the way. Though he wrestled throughout high school, he was never a state champion, and he had no other martial arts training when he first walked into a gym in October 2005, after watching the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Johnson grinded his way through the northwest regional circuit before debuting tin the WEC, and then he promptly dropped his first fight by decision. The setback hardly set him back, however, and he ran off a streak, winning four straight to earn a shot at Cruz. In his last two fights, he beat Miguel Torres and Kid Yamamoto, who were at one time the best lighter weight fighters in the world. Now Johnson has a chance to join those ranks, but there aren't a lot of believers out there; Cruz is as much as a 5-to-1 favorite.

"Story of my life," Johnson said. "I'm the smallest guy probably in the UFC. It is what it is. Everyone sees me as an underdog. I don't mind. It is what it is. Like I say, story of my life."

Yet Johnson is every bit the story of determination as Cruz. Until recently, he held a full-time job in a Tacoma, Washington recycling plant. During his May win over Torres, he suffered a broken bone in his leg, but he was still back to work at the plant on the following Monday. After accepting the title bout with Cruz, he gave up the job to prepare for the biggest opportunity of his life.

Like an underdog out of central casting, Johnson is quiet and polite in addition to being small. The UFC sat him next to 6-foot-11 Stefan Struve on Thursday, further highlighting just how small he is. He didn't say much on Thursday, and even when he was asked questions, he often clipped his answer short when you had the feeling he might have had a little bit more to say. Like Cruz, perhaps he is holding it back for when it truly matters.

"You guys have all seen me fight, and you know what I do," he said. "I come out and bring the pace and I do my job. I prepare myself to win."

[Kemal]

Pat Barry: Lifetime of Training Helps Battling Stefan Struve's Height, Reach

At 6-foot-11, Stefan Struve towers over every fighter in the UFC; he's the tallest competitor fighting under the organization's banner. Meanwhile, his Saturday night opponent, Pat Barry, is 5-foot-11. That height differential will make for an interesting visual at UFC Live 6, and it will also make for a difficult obstacle for Barry to overcome.

Reaching his high target will be no easy feat for Barry, who with a 74.5-inch reach, will have a nearly 10-inch disadvantage in that category. But Barry has no concerns about what appears to be a daunting challenge. In fact, he says that the fight is no different than any other for either him or Struve.

"I'm accustomed to guys being taller than I am whereas Stefan is accustomed to guys being shorter than he is," Barry said recently. "So, like this is going to like play into our games, into our strategies, into our timing, reach, distance. Like this is going to play directly into what we've been training for every day since we started the job, like since we started this sport.

"So I don't think it's going to ... I don't think this fight is going to make it any different," he continued. "I mean, like I said, I don't think he's run across any - I don't think there's any 9-foot-tall kickboxers. It's something that his lifetime of training has prepared him for."

On Thursday, the two squared up for the first time for a pre-fight staredown photo opportunity, and yes, the shot looked a bit comedic. The two could barely keep straight faces, with both cracking smiles and laughing.

Part of those loose attitudes stem from their past, as the two have known each other for a few years and get along well outside of the cage. It has allowed them to fire off one-liners at each other all throughout the leadup to the bout, and on Thursday, Struve got in the best line at the pre-fight press conference.

When asked how he expected to defend Barry's high kicks, Struve nonchalantly answered, "Block it with my shin," a response that drew laughter from the fighters and media.

Earlier, Barry even poked fun at himself, saying when it came to ground skills, Struve could "lay on the ground and submit me while I was standing straight up."

But when the laughter ends and business gets serious, the two are expected to have one of the night's most intriguing fights, not only because of the size and reach differential, but because of their respective kickboxing backgrounds.

Barry has worked hard in his recent camps to round out his game, working wrestling and jiu-jitsu with his new DeathClutch teammates, including former UFC champ Brock Lesnar and current Bellator champ Cole Konrad.

Meanwhile, Struve said he spent time sharpening up his striking, including working with renowned Romanian kickboxer Daniel Ghita.

So there is at least a friendly rivalry over who is the better striker, and neither man will want to be the first to try to take it to the ground. But "friendly" is the key word here. It's not personal for either one. At least on the surface, it's a test of everything that's come before. For Barry, the challenge is simple physics. And for Struve, it's beating Barry at his own game.

"I think that this could turn out to be a really awesome fight to where really when it comes down to it, my short arms won't matter," Barry said. "With his really long arms might, we might cancel each other out in a way and it might stand there and take a long time for the fight to get finished or maybe he can keep me on the end of a jab the way, you know, people eventually started keeping Mike Tyson away from them with a jab. Like, who knows? I mean it could be a little bit of anything. Anything could happen that night. So I mean range, it can be good, but at the same time it can be bad, too."

[Kemal]

UFC Live Cruz vs. Johnson Weigh-In Results: Both Bantamweights at 135

UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Demetrious Johnson were both on weight for Saturday night's title fight when they stepped on the scale Friday at the UFC Live weigh-in.

Both Cruz and Johnson weighed in right at the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds.

The largely uneventful weigh-ins were lightened up by 5-foot-11 heavyweight Pat Barry standing on a stool to stare down with his 6-foot-11 opponent, Stefan Struve, as UFC announcer Joe Rogan declared, "This is the biggest height discrepancy for any UFC fight ever."

One fighter missed weight: Byron Bloodworth, who took his bantamweight fight with Mike Easton on short notice this week, came in at 138 pounds.

Full results are below.

Main Card:
Dominick Cruz (135) vs. Demetrious Johnson (135)
Pat Barry (243) vs. Stefan Struve (261)
Charlie Brenneman (171) vs. Anthony Johnson (171)
Mac Danzig (155) vs. Matt Wiman (156)

Preliminary Card:
Yves Edwards (155) vs. Rafaello Oliveira (155)
Michael Johnson (156) vs. Paul Sass (155)
Byron Bloodworth (138) vs. Mike Easton (135)
T.J. Grant (155) vs. Shane Roller (156)
Josh Neer (171) vs. Keith Wisniewski (170)
Joseph Sandoval (134) vs. Walel Watson (134.5)

[breahule]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o1-1...layer_embedded