Pat Barry’s hopes of rekindling his kickboxing career suffered a massive blow last night when he was knocked out by Zack Mwekassa in his Glory debut.
Mwekassa, a former professional boxer renowned for his punching power, took just 2.33mins to stop Barry, catching him with a devastating uppercut that felled the former UFC fighter like a tree.
Barry had been wobbled before that with a vicious right hand that turned his legs to jelly and forced him to take a knee, but Mwekessa continued to press forward aggressively after the restart before landing one of the hardest left uppercuts you’ll see this year to finish the job.
Barry had announced earlier in the year that he was leaving the UFC to return to his kickboxing roots after a disappointing spell in the promotion that had seen him won just once in his last four fights.
The 34 year-old blamed his lack of ground skills and concern about getting taken down for his losses, but the fact remained that while earlier in his UFC career he had been submitted several times, four of his last five defeats had all come by either KO or TKO.
Still, a confidence boosting win over Ed Burns in the kickboxing ring in March gave hope that the popular fighter had made the right choice to switch sports, but last night’s brutal loss now leaves ‘HD’ in a tough spot.
Perhaps Glory will give him a chance to redeem himself on a future card, but given the number of knockout’s he’s suffered in recent years it may be that Barry will have to start seriously considering the unfortunate possibility that it’s time to retire.
