Kingdom MMA: Exclusive Interview with Luke Barnatt
by Ben Heather @benheather
Kingdom MMA recently had the pleasure of asking Luke Barnatt some questions about his time in The Ultimate Fighter house, his fight at the Ultimate Fighter Finale and what happened between the two.
Luke made it to the the quarter finals on the show losing to Dylan Andrews in the fight of the series but was still rewarded with a fight in the UFC after the show. Luke made his UFC debut at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale as part of the prelims just over a week ago where he beat Collin Hart.
Ben: What was it like to leave the UK behind and live in Vegas for 6 weeks with a house full of guys wanting to stop your dream from coming true?
Barnatt: I've always been a bit of a lone wolf and moved around... lived all over the UK and left home at a young age... so it was easy. I was a bit naive when it came to the house, I thought it would be a lot easier than it turned out to be... but I was living out my dream and would love to do it all over again it was a life changing experience.
Ben: Was TUF as hard as Chael described it, "The Toughest tournament in sport"?
Barnatt: 100%... there is nothing in reality that comes close to matching the TUF house, eating breakfast with a group of trained fighters who are all willing to beat the hell outta you to get where they want to be.. having to fight 4 times in 6 weeks as well as be cut off from the world and all support networks is TUF...
Ben: Have you kept in touch with any of the guys from the house?
Barnatt: I made some amazing friends in that house, and we will all have a special bond for the rest of our lives, because there is no one else on the planet who can understand what happened apart from us. I speak to Jimmy Q and Thor the most outta everyone, but I tweet pretty much the whole group every now and then.
Ben: Was it hard not being able to talk to anyone once you were back about the whole series of TUF, even though you knew all the details?
Barnatt: Everyone tried to trick me into telling them things... trying to be smart, but I'm built like Fort Knox.
Ben: I met you in the bar in the Hilton after UFC on Fuel 7 and during our chat you told me I had to watch your next fight on the show as it was a great fight. We later found out that fight was the fight vs Dylan (Which won FOTS and earned you $25k)
Going in to the last round of that fight did you think the fight was yours to be won?
Barnatt: Fighting Dylan was a very important part of my career so far, its the first time I've been 3 rounds with a man who's willing to do as much as I am to win, we had a back and forth fight that was a high pace... but going into the 3rd I remember thinking I had what it took in me to take Dylan out, I searched for a FINISH... not just to win the round and I think that was my mistake... but Dylan is a tough competitor and come out stronger than I did, he was the better man on the night.
Ben: After Losing that fight, did you learn anything from it and work on in training?
Barnatt: I'm always trying to improve and have so much to get better at, I don't think there was anything specifically that let me down against Dylan so I didn't come away with anything I had to 100% get better at, it was a fight and sometimes you lose, I learnt from it that I had more fight in me, and next time I'm in that situation again you'll see that... Unless you've had to reach deep down into the depths of your soul before you won't understand, but I didn't reach far enough against Dylan, I thought I did at the time... but after the fact you realise you have more to give... so next time I'll be able to reach even deeper.
Ben: Do you think it was an advantage for you to have a fight like that and learn from it without the loss going on your record?
Barnatt: 100% I had the best possible outcome a fighter could ask for... I lost in the Quarter Finals got FOTS against a guy who's had 4x the amount of fights as me (16-4) and took him to a 3rd round, it taught me a lot and made me realise after a very short period of time I've really gained some skills and deserve to be in the UFC.
Ben: You met some true warriors while in the house not only Chael and Jon but people like Ronda Rousey and Mike Tyson. Which person did you think was great to have met?
Barnatt: Everyone was great to meet all in their own way. But Chael was the biggest person for me personally, even now when I've spent nearly half a year training with the guy every day he still holds that star power. the man is a true inspiration.
Ben: In my opinion Chael has to go down as the best coach in TUF history, some of the speeches he gave were incredible. Do you think that you have changed not only as a fighter but as a person after that experience?
Barnatt: I don't know about best TUF Coach in history I've not seen every coach to comment, but he definitely had an impact on me as a fighter, I have a very similar outlook on fighting to Chael... a fights a fight, you don't always win but you show up and fight every time. So having his point of view on things was very eye opening I changed as a fighter but not drastically.. it sort of excelled what I was already becoming.
Ben: After you had finished fighting on TUF, it seemed that you and John Maguire were travelling around America training with some really top level fighters in Chael, Vinny Maghalaes and Michael Bisping, who do you think you learnt the most from?
Barnatt: Probably from John... I mean the guys I've been training with are unreal and talented, but fighters are fighters not coaches... I've been getting great sparring and work in with the guys but John is the one who takes the time with me to break things down, talk about technique and really improve...
John Maguire is a World Class fighter with talent in every area of the game... hes not made his impact on the UFC scene yet because he's been fighting above his weight at 170... when he is clearly a 155er so at UFC 161 you'll get to see what John is all about.
Ben: Once the series was finished it was announced you would fight Collin Hart at the TUF Finale, What was the plan going in to your fight at the ultimate fighter 17 finale?
Barnatt: Don't get taken down... I worked religiously with Chael and the wrestling guys over here in Tualatin at defending the body lock take downs and scrambling to my feet...
Colin is a very talented athlete and strong in certain positions, so I avoided them and told myself I was going to work harder than him everywhere and push the pace so he would break. Collin's strengths are his grappling and his endurance, I pride myself on my conditioning and really feel I have some of the best conditioning at 185 there is, so when I hit Collin 119 times in 15 minutes and pushed the pace harder than him, I could feel him dwindle off and need more rest than me, It felt great... Chael has the best work rate in the UFC and I aspire to be the same way.
Ben: I believe you have been working with Mike Dolce ahead of this fight, what changes to your diet has he made?
Barnatt: I worked very closely with Dolce for this camp, following the Dolce Diet 100% and he helped me cut the weight required for the fight. If you want to know what I ate... then go buy a Dolce Diet copy of Living Lean, because the grocery list is in it... that's all I had for 8 weeks leading up to the fight and now I'm doing it all year round.
Ben: You had Chael in your corner on Saturday night, was that a surreal moment for you?
Barnatt: I see Chael as a team mate now, so Surreal is the wrong word, but when I look at photos etc it does seem strange, if you had told me 6 months ago that Chael P Sonnen would be cornering me for my UFC debut on my Birthday... well you get my point!
The moment that I'll remember most is when I was walking into the octagon and Chael put his hand on my shoulder and said "I believe in you" that was a very powerful message.
Ben: How great did it feel when Bruce Buffer announced you as the winner of the fight at the end and do you think you did enough to edge the decision?
Barnatt: I thought I won all 3 rounds pretty convincingly... but that was because I knew I was fighting my fight, I dictated what was happening.
Collin did not want to stand he wanted it on the canvas, he couldn't get me there so he was forced to stand, he hit me a lot... but he punched like my mother so I was happy to take the shots and hit him back, I landed the more vicious blows and out struck him, so I knew I'd won the fight.... but you never do know with those bloody Judges... Collin was a tough guy and fought a great fight, I honestly felt the UFC should reward him with another fight.
Ben: After winning your first UFC fight, who would you like to fight next and when would you next like to get back in the octagon?
Barnatt: I want Francis Carmont... Especially after this weekends tragic 15 minutes. He lost to Tom Lawlor and to Larkin but somehow stole two decision victories, he's on a 5 fight win streak in the UFC and people seem to be afraid of him.. that's who I want!
But being realistic the UFC aren't going to give me someone who's 5-0 in the organisation so I'd like to get out of the TUF circuit and beat the piss out of another European Middleweight... like Magnus Calenblad, who's been hiding for over a year telling the world hes a UFC fighter when he's not even won a fight yet... give me him and I'll get rid of him for you.
As for when... I'd fight in the UFC tomorrow.
Ben: Would you like to say thanks to anyone?
Barnatt: Anyone who has ever watched MMA, spent money on MMA or spoken highly of MMA.
Thank you very much for your time and all the guys at Kingdom MMA can't wait to see back in the octagon fighting for the UFC again.
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