In one of the best combinations this season, Steph Daniels spoke with Chris “Huggy Bear” Barnett about his super heavyweight life. The Taekwondo and wrestling stylist took nearly three years off in a contractual dispute, but is now on a six-fight win streak, including wins over Travis Wiuff and UFC vet Walt Harris. Four of his wins were in 2014 alone. At 5′ 9″ and 329 lbs, fights are hard to come by, but Huggy Bear is training MMA at The Hardcore Gym, and heading for 266.
Look at this media; how can you not be a fan of this man?
“Overseas, they love the supers,” said Barnett. “If you’re a big guy fighting over there, you’re doing well. Over here, they’re like, ‘He’s just a fat guy, he’ll never do well.’ I love that people think like that. It makes me happy to shock them with the exact opposite. Guess what? I’m beating these guys all “out of shape.”
“What do you say when one guy steps in the ring with a six pack, and then I come in looking like I just ate a cheeseburger [laughs]? You just lost to a big guy that walked out in a bear suit. I mean, I walked out to “Happy.” How do you explain that? That’s right, you can’t explain that [laughs].
“So yeah, the super heavyweight scene in the United States is kind of like ‘Eh, whatever’, but in Japan, it’s fantastic. If I could be the next Bob Sapp, only a version of him that doesn’t dive for the floor when someone thinks about throwing a punch. What he did was make Japan and pretty much all of Asia love him. I would like to engage Asian fans the way he did. Hell, I want to engage all MMA fans and have them cheer for me.
It’s not just about winning and a paycheck. It’s about having fans and doing your personal best. I want to be glorious and for people to see it. I want to be my best. The best. I can’t do that without putting in the work. That’s what I’m doing now.
Barnett fights Darrill Schoonover at Square Ring Promotions on November 21, 2014 in Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds, Pensacola, FL
