Dean Barry has detailed the extent of the hate that he received in the aftermath of his UFC debut defeat to Mike Jackson last month.
At UFC Vegas 54, the long-planned bout between Barry and Jackson went down. With the pair colliding in the main card opener, the promotion and the fans would’ve been hoping for an entertaining start to the night. Instead, they were greeted with two illegal exchanges and a disqualification.
After first landing a nasty low blow on “The Truth” courtesy of a spinning kick that strayed south of the border, the fight was halted again soon after, this time for the last time. Following a deep eye poke, the bout was waved off and Jackson had his hand raised via disqualification.
Ireland’s Barry hasn’t had it easy with canceled bouts, and so to see his debut in the UFC, which marked just his sixth professional fight, end in such disastrous fashion was a real shame. But the defeat and a quick release from the promotion weren’t the only things that “The Sniper” had to deal with.
Following the result, Barry was met with some horrendous abuse online, which even led to him disabling his social media accounts, as he detailed during a recent appearance on Sherdog’s The Sheehan Show.
“Everything gets to you bro, I’m a f*cking human being. Seeing that sh*t, even just after the fight, some of the stuff people were saying about me kids and all that,” said Barry. “People saying they hope my kid has no daddy, and that I drop dead. And, ‘I’m gonna rape your son while your missus watches.’ All this disgusting sh*t, and that’s why I deactivated my medias. I was like, ‘I don’t need to read that sh*t.’
“I know who I am, I know it wasn’t the best performance, but how dare people think they can say that about somebody. And then if it upsets you, ‘Ah, this fella is a p*ssy,’ you know what I mean? I’m a f*cking human being, bro,” added Barry.
A lot of the backlash centered around the way in which the defeat came about, with some accusing Barry of deliberately poking Jackson in the eye. According to the 29-year-old, that theory makes no sense.
Barry: Why Would I Deliberately Eye Poke Someone I Was About To KO?
Further in the interview, Barry addressed claims that he purposely attempted to compromise Jackson’s eye inside the Apex on April 23.
Prior to the stoppage, Barry was clearly having more success on the feet and appeared to have hurt his American counterpart on multiple occasions. With that in mind, the Dublin native suggested that there’s no logic or basis to claims that his indiscretions were planned or deliberate.
“I went in to kill mode there, had him against the fence, I was teeing off on him… I just saw red. I was like, ‘I’m finishing him.’ … I had him rocked, and he grabbed onto me,” recalled Barry. “I grabbed him to clinch, ’cause I was like, ‘I’m finishing him here.’ I was gonna push him off me to knock him out, and as I was doing it, I tried to frame off this way (leans right), but I couldn’t even for the life of me see my fingers near his eyes, ’cause I was trying to push him back to hit him with my right hand.
“The thing people are saying, ‘You deliberately done it.’ I’m like, ‘Why the f*ck would I deliberately poke someone in the eye I was about to knock out on my UFC debut?’ On my worst night, that was the worst night of my life and I was still piecing him up,” continued Barry. “I was about to finish the man, why would I stick me fingers in his eye? Even the spinning kick, it was an accident, he’s way taller than me.”
Having made a quick entry and disappointing exit from the Octagon, Barry will have the chance to register a fast rebound under the Titan FC banner. Having competed in the promotion both in 2019 and 2021, the Irishman will return to face Julio Cesar Chaves in a lightweight bout on June 3.
As well as bouncing back from his DQ loss last month, “The Sniper” will be looking to begin his road to a second opportunity on MMA’s biggest stage.
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