Chico
14-11-2007, 16:37
An interview with The Ultimate Fighter 6’s Dan Barrera (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2007/11/12/an-interview-with-the-ultimate-fighter-6s-dan-barrera/)
November 12, 2007 By: Adam Morgan Category: Dan Barrera (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/category/dan-barrera/), TUF 6 (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/category/tuf-6/)
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/dan_barrera.jpg (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/dan_barrera.jpg)I recently had the opportunity to catch up with one of this season’s TUF 6 contestants, Dan Barrera. We covered a myriad of topics, including his faith, various issues about this season of TUF, his hand injury, Matt Hughes as a coach, and of course, the now legendary “shadowboxing in the bathroom” incident. Dan was a great sport and I can’t thank him enough for taking the time out of his day to do an interview for us. Hope you enjoy!
Adam Morgan: A whole lot of people don’t know about how you got into MMA, so start out by telling us a little about your background and how you got involved with the sport.
Dan Barrera: Well, I started to wrestle when I was in junior high and it’s a pretty tough state where I was from. I’m from Idaho, so I grew up wrestling and then I got to state in wrestling. Then I got into the Air Force right after high school and I boxed for the Air Force team for a number of years and then I actually got to nationals a few times, got ranked, and then I started doing jiu jitsu once I got out here to Kentucky, so that’s how it all tied in.
AM: Can you tell us a little bit more about your military experience? You did a tour in Pakistan, correct?
DB: Yeah, I did six years in the military. I was a firefighter and I got to box most of the time so I didn’t really get to go do any GDYs. I competed as a boxer until I had an opportunity to go, I basically volunteered to go to do my tour over in Pakistan ’cause I wasn’t really selected. My GDY, my duty was to go and box. I go from fighting the Army, the Navy, the Marines, and then I would go to the nationals after that and represent the Air Force.
AM: Okay, so it was like a sponsored military boxing gig?
DB: Yeah, basically. Basically you travel around and you wear the Air Force colors and the Air Force logo and you go and you box against the best in the world.
AM: On The Ultimate Fighter, a lot’s been made of your connection with God and your spiritual connection. How did religion become such a huge part of your life?
DB: To tell you the truth I grew up in a home, where, you know, it was just kinda tough growing up. I have five brothers and my mom was by herself for awhile and it was like we were by ourselves, you know? God was just watching out for us because all my brothers are doing well, none of them are in jail. I mean we had our stints with the law growing up but everybody’s doing well, very well, successful and it’s just a blessing that we always had someone looking out for us and I believe that it was God that was looking out for us.
Nobody can tell me that he isn’t in my life because I have so many things and I really wasn’t supposed to get things. When I was in high school and junior high I was in juvenile detention center and these guys were telling me “you’re never going to get out of this place, man.” I wasn’t supposed to have these nice things, but it’s all turning out, so God’s always been there.
AM: On this season of The Ultimate Fighter, did you receive the bad news from home directly before your fight as it was depicted on the show?
DB: They edited it a little bit different. My hand actually was a little bit swollen a few days before everything and then I got the call. The call wasn’t like right before, but it was the day before. I did do those X-Rays right before weigh-ins, so that was right before I weighed in for the fight. It was hot outside, I was cutting weight, and I was getting agitated because they were wanting me to do three or four takes and I was like “C’mon, man, I can’t even drink any water right now!”
Some of the guys we had a problem with, like the cameraman and stuff. I understand they’re just trying to do their job, but man, when you’re cutting weight you just get agitated. You’re like, “Dude, what are you doing? It’s like 110 degrees outside, bro, can’t we at least do it in the shade or by the AC?”
AM: And is your wife okay?
DB: Yeah, my wife’s good, everything’s good and she’s okay. Everything’s good to go. I’m back home with her. A lot of people don’t realize that going onto that show is really a tough time if you ask any of the guys, man. Especially if you’re married or you have family because they don’t let you talk to them, dude. Nobody. You have like no connection with anybody.
Some of the guys have kids and they don’t even get to talk to their kids, man. Anything can happen on a day’s notice, you know? It’s a trip, man. When I went to Pakistan and did military things and did other things, it makes it a lot easier when you can have mail and you can email and there’s so many ways with technology nowadays. You can take a picture of yourself and forward it to your loved one and it’s like you’re there. But we had no connection with the outside world, it was like prison camp or something.
AM: How did your hand get so messed up before the fight and was it actually Matt Hughes that was responsible for it?
DB: Yeah, I think it was. To tell you the honest truth, man, that’s the only thing I can really come up with because I was going real hard with him. But, I mean, our practices were basically just gut checks every day. I can’t compare it to anything else I’ve ever done in my life. If you missed practice, everybody showed up early, everybody stayed, and they took their lickin’s, man. They didn’t show a lot of it, but they were pretty tough rundown practices.
Honestly, other guys got injured, too, you know? Like Billy Miles got his neck cranked hard. It was just tough love. Not to feel like Serra’s team wasn’t going through the same, but some of their guys didn’t even want to practice and stuff and we were resentful because if any one of us didn’t show up on this bus, it would be like “Hey, where’s this guy?” and then they would beat us up and be hard on us! They’d be like “Hey, where’s this guy at?” and we would be like “Hey, he didn’t wake up” and they would say “That doesn’t cut it here on this side.” It was like military fashion.
AM: How much did your hand injury affect you during the fight itself?
DB: After I threw that right and knocked him down and he had a broken nose, I thought that I broke my hand to tell you the truth, Adam. I felt like, a lot of people don’t know this, but I felt like I seriously broke my hand, I thought it was broken. I just got a shot of pain all the way up to my spine and I just kind of hesitated for a second.
If you’ve got that much adrenaline pumping and you feel that pain, then that’s not good, because usually you don’t feel your injuries until the next morning because you’re so juiced up on adrenaline. I felt it right then, instantaneously, boom. I just thought in my mind “I broke my hand.” I was really hesitant to throw after that. All around, that was a performance that I was highly disappointed in because of the situation. I was wearing an extra large glove and my hand almost didn’t fit into the largest glove they have. If it wouldn’t have fit in that glove then I wouldn’t have been able to fight.
AM: Did you get the hand checked out again?
DB: Yeah, it’s down now, but there’s still a little lump. People when they look at it, they say “Man, that’s still messed up,” but you know, it’s good to go. It’s a little bit elevated on the knuckles compared to the other side, I think there’s some circulation problems, but it’s good to go now. I’ll be throwin’, that’s for sure.
AM: Do you feel that there was any overtraining on Matt Hughes’ part?
DB: You know what, man? Overtraining? Under resting? I don’t really believe in overtraining, but under resting? I don’t think a lot of guys were recouping fast enough or not at all. That situation is different, you know, Matt Hughes is a coach in the house but that’s a lot different than being an actual fighter in the house. That’s a whole different story. We’re going back to the house and we live there and it’s just a lot more stressful than when you’re staying in a hotel room where you can call people.
Some guys liked to stay up late and other guys liked to go to bed early. If you’re in a hotel you can get a wake up call and everything is quiet, but if you’re in a house with sixteen dudes and some guys are drinking, then everyone else hears it too, you know? It’s not really a controlled environment. You can’t really control whether it’s going to be quiet that night or not.
November 12, 2007 By: Adam Morgan Category: Dan Barrera (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/category/dan-barrera/), TUF 6 (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/category/tuf-6/)
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/dan_barrera.jpg (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/dan_barrera.jpg)I recently had the opportunity to catch up with one of this season’s TUF 6 contestants, Dan Barrera. We covered a myriad of topics, including his faith, various issues about this season of TUF, his hand injury, Matt Hughes as a coach, and of course, the now legendary “shadowboxing in the bathroom” incident. Dan was a great sport and I can’t thank him enough for taking the time out of his day to do an interview for us. Hope you enjoy!
Adam Morgan: A whole lot of people don’t know about how you got into MMA, so start out by telling us a little about your background and how you got involved with the sport.
Dan Barrera: Well, I started to wrestle when I was in junior high and it’s a pretty tough state where I was from. I’m from Idaho, so I grew up wrestling and then I got to state in wrestling. Then I got into the Air Force right after high school and I boxed for the Air Force team for a number of years and then I actually got to nationals a few times, got ranked, and then I started doing jiu jitsu once I got out here to Kentucky, so that’s how it all tied in.
AM: Can you tell us a little bit more about your military experience? You did a tour in Pakistan, correct?
DB: Yeah, I did six years in the military. I was a firefighter and I got to box most of the time so I didn’t really get to go do any GDYs. I competed as a boxer until I had an opportunity to go, I basically volunteered to go to do my tour over in Pakistan ’cause I wasn’t really selected. My GDY, my duty was to go and box. I go from fighting the Army, the Navy, the Marines, and then I would go to the nationals after that and represent the Air Force.
AM: Okay, so it was like a sponsored military boxing gig?
DB: Yeah, basically. Basically you travel around and you wear the Air Force colors and the Air Force logo and you go and you box against the best in the world.
AM: On The Ultimate Fighter, a lot’s been made of your connection with God and your spiritual connection. How did religion become such a huge part of your life?
DB: To tell you the truth I grew up in a home, where, you know, it was just kinda tough growing up. I have five brothers and my mom was by herself for awhile and it was like we were by ourselves, you know? God was just watching out for us because all my brothers are doing well, none of them are in jail. I mean we had our stints with the law growing up but everybody’s doing well, very well, successful and it’s just a blessing that we always had someone looking out for us and I believe that it was God that was looking out for us.
Nobody can tell me that he isn’t in my life because I have so many things and I really wasn’t supposed to get things. When I was in high school and junior high I was in juvenile detention center and these guys were telling me “you’re never going to get out of this place, man.” I wasn’t supposed to have these nice things, but it’s all turning out, so God’s always been there.
AM: On this season of The Ultimate Fighter, did you receive the bad news from home directly before your fight as it was depicted on the show?
DB: They edited it a little bit different. My hand actually was a little bit swollen a few days before everything and then I got the call. The call wasn’t like right before, but it was the day before. I did do those X-Rays right before weigh-ins, so that was right before I weighed in for the fight. It was hot outside, I was cutting weight, and I was getting agitated because they were wanting me to do three or four takes and I was like “C’mon, man, I can’t even drink any water right now!”
Some of the guys we had a problem with, like the cameraman and stuff. I understand they’re just trying to do their job, but man, when you’re cutting weight you just get agitated. You’re like, “Dude, what are you doing? It’s like 110 degrees outside, bro, can’t we at least do it in the shade or by the AC?”
AM: And is your wife okay?
DB: Yeah, my wife’s good, everything’s good and she’s okay. Everything’s good to go. I’m back home with her. A lot of people don’t realize that going onto that show is really a tough time if you ask any of the guys, man. Especially if you’re married or you have family because they don’t let you talk to them, dude. Nobody. You have like no connection with anybody.
Some of the guys have kids and they don’t even get to talk to their kids, man. Anything can happen on a day’s notice, you know? It’s a trip, man. When I went to Pakistan and did military things and did other things, it makes it a lot easier when you can have mail and you can email and there’s so many ways with technology nowadays. You can take a picture of yourself and forward it to your loved one and it’s like you’re there. But we had no connection with the outside world, it was like prison camp or something.
AM: How did your hand get so messed up before the fight and was it actually Matt Hughes that was responsible for it?
DB: Yeah, I think it was. To tell you the honest truth, man, that’s the only thing I can really come up with because I was going real hard with him. But, I mean, our practices were basically just gut checks every day. I can’t compare it to anything else I’ve ever done in my life. If you missed practice, everybody showed up early, everybody stayed, and they took their lickin’s, man. They didn’t show a lot of it, but they were pretty tough rundown practices.
Honestly, other guys got injured, too, you know? Like Billy Miles got his neck cranked hard. It was just tough love. Not to feel like Serra’s team wasn’t going through the same, but some of their guys didn’t even want to practice and stuff and we were resentful because if any one of us didn’t show up on this bus, it would be like “Hey, where’s this guy?” and then they would beat us up and be hard on us! They’d be like “Hey, where’s this guy at?” and we would be like “Hey, he didn’t wake up” and they would say “That doesn’t cut it here on this side.” It was like military fashion.
AM: How much did your hand injury affect you during the fight itself?
DB: After I threw that right and knocked him down and he had a broken nose, I thought that I broke my hand to tell you the truth, Adam. I felt like, a lot of people don’t know this, but I felt like I seriously broke my hand, I thought it was broken. I just got a shot of pain all the way up to my spine and I just kind of hesitated for a second.
If you’ve got that much adrenaline pumping and you feel that pain, then that’s not good, because usually you don’t feel your injuries until the next morning because you’re so juiced up on adrenaline. I felt it right then, instantaneously, boom. I just thought in my mind “I broke my hand.” I was really hesitant to throw after that. All around, that was a performance that I was highly disappointed in because of the situation. I was wearing an extra large glove and my hand almost didn’t fit into the largest glove they have. If it wouldn’t have fit in that glove then I wouldn’t have been able to fight.
AM: Did you get the hand checked out again?
DB: Yeah, it’s down now, but there’s still a little lump. People when they look at it, they say “Man, that’s still messed up,” but you know, it’s good to go. It’s a little bit elevated on the knuckles compared to the other side, I think there’s some circulation problems, but it’s good to go now. I’ll be throwin’, that’s for sure.
AM: Do you feel that there was any overtraining on Matt Hughes’ part?
DB: You know what, man? Overtraining? Under resting? I don’t really believe in overtraining, but under resting? I don’t think a lot of guys were recouping fast enough or not at all. That situation is different, you know, Matt Hughes is a coach in the house but that’s a lot different than being an actual fighter in the house. That’s a whole different story. We’re going back to the house and we live there and it’s just a lot more stressful than when you’re staying in a hotel room where you can call people.
Some guys liked to stay up late and other guys liked to go to bed early. If you’re in a hotel you can get a wake up call and everything is quiet, but if you’re in a house with sixteen dudes and some guys are drinking, then everyone else hears it too, you know? It’s not really a controlled environment. You can’t really control whether it’s going to be quiet that night or not.