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UFC heavyweight Pat Barry broke his hand and foot in a co-main event bout with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic this past Saturday at UFC 115 and will wear a hand cast and foot "boot" – or therapeutic brace – for five weeks.
However, Barry today said that he will likely only need a few weeks of rehabilitation before he can return to the gym.
"The plan was to take some time off after this fight," Barry said. "But I'll be honest, man; as soon as this fight was over, I just wanted to get out of this cast and out of this boot and get right back into the gym. Maybe I've got to start drinking more milk because I didn't expect my bones to break on his eye."
Filipovic (27-7-2 MMA, 4-3 UFC) uncharacteristically submitted Barry (5-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) with a rear-naked choke after coming on strong in the latter half of their three-round meeting.
On two occasions, Barry put Filipovic on his rear end with punches. The second – a hard right hand to the left side of the Croatian fighter's face that was audible to cageside observers – was the punch that broke his hand.
"After five weeks [doctors] said everything should be fine, and I shouldn't need surgery," Barry said. "They said ... the hand definitely is one that would need surgery (if they were) just looking at anybody. If it was anybody else, they would say surgery. But they said it will be cool."
Filipovic, a former K-1 kickboxer, surprised many fans when he took the fight to the mat. Barry, also a former K-1 fighter and Sanshou kickboxer, held the fighter at bay but lost valuable points on judges' scorecards by giving up takedowns.
"I was expecting a slugfest, but I wasn't naive enough to believe that if 'Cro Cop' was to get in danger with the stand-up that he wouldn't take it to the ground," Barry said. "It's survival.
"At the end of the night, we all want to win – no matter what style we come from. Same thing with me; if you were to punch me in the head hard enough, you would see the most awesome white-belt beginner jiu jitsu ever from me."
UFC president Dana White said Barry gave too much respect to the former PRIDE champion and paid the price. Barry openly fawned over Filipovic in press events leading up to the fight and said he wanted the fighter's autograph.
"Mirko 'Cro Cop' is not your friend," said White, adding that Filipovic may have lowered Barry's defenses when he reciprocated the warmth in interviews.
Barry, a New Orleans native and survivor of Hurricane Katrina, said he did not get Filipovic's autograph after all.
"But I do have something better; I'm going to have a scar on my hand for the rest of my life, and he's texting me and calling me," Barry said. "He called me yesterday to see how I was doing.
"So I've got a broken hand, a broken foot, a big bruise on my forehead, and I've also got his home address and phone number. An autograph can be washed away if another hurricane comes, but this lump in my hand is going to be there forever."
Even after broken metacarpals and metatarsals, Barry is still a "Cro Cop" fan.
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you sure have i posted it up because i loved how honest it was...still he should have put him way.
