(What’s the best way to say "I’m sorry" to a guy who kicks people in the head for a living? PicProps: UFC.com)
Full disclosure time, PotatoNation. In the immediate aftermath of UFC 115, the asshole Weekend Editor of this website (that would be me) wrote a piece criticizing Pat Barry for doing too much grippin’-and-grinnin’ in the Octagon during his submission loss to Mirko Cro Cop. Now that new shit has come to light – including but not limited to an insightful interview with Old Dad published Sunday over on MMAFighting.com – I’d like to say: Damn, playa. My bad.
Turns out, after breaking both his right hand and right foot during the first round, Barry was coping with excruciating pain and what he himself describes as “complete, oh-shit-I-don’t-know-what-to-do panic” for the remainder of the bout. Viewed with the benefit of that information, Barry’s performance seems not tentative and awe-struck as I first implied, but actually extremely courageous. So yeah, sorry about that stuff I said earlier, Pat.