Bryan Barberena’s fighting career has hit a crossroad.
The long-time UFC welterweight revealed he fought out his contract with the company following his most recent win. Barberena (17-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) defeated fellow veteran Matt Brown in a wild split-decision battle on the main card of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 33. The bout won Fight of the Night awards.
Although the 32-year-old is unsure if he’ll get re-signed by the UFC, he’s certain he’s not going to fight elsewhere.
“This is the last fight on my contract,” Barberena told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 33 post-fight press conference. “I haven’t been open about that, but this was the last fight on my contract. The UFC didn’t say anything about re-negotiating. I tried asking about it. Dana White, let’s talk. I’d love to keep fighting, I’d love to keep putting on shows.
“I don’t want to fight anywhere else. If this is it and they don’t want me no more, that’s OK. I’ll hang them up here. I should’ve left the gloves in the cage if that’s the case. But if not, I’d love to keep putting on shows.”
Barberena is now on a two-fight winning streak and 3-1 in his past four fights. He’s won two $50,000 bonuses for Fight of the Night during that four-fight stretch. Barberena’s good form could be enticing for other promotions looking for talent if the UFC were to chose not to re-sign him. Yet, Barberena has no interest in fighting anywhere else – it’s UFC or bust.
“Yeah, absolutely – I’d be done,” Barberena said. “Me and my wife talk about this a lot. The UFC is where I want to be, that was the goal all the time. I’m excited, I love being here. They treat me well and I love being in front of these fans. It’s the biggest organization out there. It’s the best organization out there as far as I’m concerned. If they don’t want me to come out and put on shows anymore, I’d go hang them up and spend my day at the farm with the family and building that.”
Barberena feels there’s plenty of fight left in him and he believes there are many fan-friendly matchups in the UFC left for him. He hopes to stay with the UFC and deliver them to the fans.
“These are the kind of matchups I want. They excite me and they excite Matt Brown and everyone. … I honestly would love to fight Robbie Lawler. I think that would be an awesome matchup. He’s one of those guys who brings it and I’m a fan of him. That would be an awesome matchup. There’s tons of other matchups out there of guys who come to throw down and bring it.”
