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Losing streak hits four
Barberena lost to Gerald Meerschaert via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:23 of Round 2 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Prevailing wisdom suggested Barberena had a reasonable chance of pulling the upset here if he could remain upright and get his striking game going, but Meerschaert completely overwhelmed "Bam Bam" with his grappling and as a result, Barberena's time with the UFC has almost certainly come to an end. Stranger things have happened, but it's going to be difficult for the company to run Bryan back out there after four straight defeats, including three via submission. If this is indeed the end, Barberena, who has been with the UFC since December 2014, closes his run with a 9-10 record with the company, including wins over Jake Ellenberger, Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler.
Prevailing wisdom suggested Barberena had a reasonable chance of pulling the upset here if he could remain upright and get his striking game going, but Meerschaert completely overwhelmed "Bam Bam" with his grappling and as a result, Barberena's time with the UFC has almost certainly come to an end. Stranger things have happened, but it's going to be difficult for the company to run Bryan back out there after four straight defeats, including three via submission. If this is indeed the end, Barberena, who has been with the UFC since December 2014, closes his run with a 9-10 record with the company, including wins over Jake Ellenberger, Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler.
Meerschaert collision on tap
Barberena is scheduled to compete against Gerald Meerschaert in a middleweight fight at the UFC's Vegas event on March 16, per Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com.
ANALYSIS
Barberena will look to snap his three-fight losing streak in 2024. He had a chance to prevent the creation of said streak and its continued nature in 2023, but suffered losses to Gunnar Nelson and Makhmud Muradov instead. Like him, Meerschaert also went 0-2 that year.
Barberena will look to snap his three-fight losing streak in 2024. He had a chance to prevent the creation of said streak and its continued nature in 2023, but suffered losses to Gunnar Nelson and Makhmud Muradov instead. Like him, Meerschaert also went 0-2 that year.
Losing streak hits three
Barberena lost to Makhmud Muradov via unanimous decision (27-30, 27-30, 27-30) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in London.
ANALYSIS
Entering as the second-largest underdog on the card at +275, Barberena was dominated from bell to bell. He allowed 13 takedowns on 16 Muradov attempts. That is not a misprint. "Bam Bam" did a pretty nice job of not getting pinned to the mat for long stretches at a time, allowing just 5:10 worth of control time, but it's literally impossible to win a three-round decision when you're being dragged to the mat every two seconds. Barberena's record has never been great, but he's always been more competitive than we have seen in his past few fights. Now 34 years of age and a loser of three straight, Bryan's time with the company could easily be coming to an end.
Entering as the second-largest underdog on the card at +275, Barberena was dominated from bell to bell. He allowed 13 takedowns on 16 Muradov attempts. That is not a misprint. "Bam Bam" did a pretty nice job of not getting pinned to the mat for long stretches at a time, allowing just 5:10 worth of control time, but it's literally impossible to win a three-round decision when you're being dragged to the mat every two seconds. Barberena's record has never been great, but he's always been more competitive than we have seen in his past few fights. Now 34 years of age and a loser of three straight, Bryan's time with the company could easily be coming to an end.
Muradov fight scheduled
Barberena will fight Makhmud Muradov in a middleweight bout at UFC London on July 22, according to Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
After submitting to Rafael dos Anjos and Gunnar Nelson across his last two fights, Barberena will try to redeem himself against Muradov at London. He is also fighting off back-to-back losses. And unlike RDA or Nelson, Muradov is not a submission specialist either.
After submitting to Rafael dos Anjos and Gunnar Nelson across his last two fights, Barberena will try to redeem himself against Muradov at London. He is also fighting off back-to-back losses. And unlike RDA or Nelson, Muradov is not a submission specialist either.
Overwhelmed by Gunnar Nelson
Barberena lost to Gunnar Nelson via submission (armbar) at 4:51 of Round 1 at UFC 286 on Saturday in London.
ANALYSIS
This fight appeared to be a worse-case scenario for Barberena from a technical standpoint and that proved to be exactly the case. Bryan is still competitive in reckless brawls against lesser competition, but he never had a chance in a bout against one of the best pound-for-pound grapplers in the history of the sport. Barberena remained upright for a handful of minutes before Nelson grabbed him and slammed him to the mat. It was academic from there. The likes of Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler -- two fighters Barberena recently defeated -- are the type of matchups he should be targeting these days. Bryan has lost two in a row on the heels of a three-fight winning streak.
This fight appeared to be a worse-case scenario for Barberena from a technical standpoint and that proved to be exactly the case. Bryan is still competitive in reckless brawls against lesser competition, but he never had a chance in a bout against one of the best pound-for-pound grapplers in the history of the sport. Barberena remained upright for a handful of minutes before Nelson grabbed him and slammed him to the mat. It was academic from there. The likes of Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler -- two fighters Barberena recently defeated -- are the type of matchups he should be targeting these days. Bryan has lost two in a row on the heels of a three-fight winning streak.