The Barn Cat’s ‘Cinderella story’ return after five years

He gave it to a little boy with a dollar note.

But the cat came back the very next day.

it actually took more than five years for Tamdan “The Barn Cat” McCrory to come back, but he did so in dramatic fashion last Saturday.

McCrory won eight in a row on the regional scene, and then was in the UFC. There he alternated wins and losses three times, going 3-3. but was released after a split decision loss to John Howard.

That was in August of 2009.

At Bellator 123 last weekend, McCrory returned. The 6′ 4″ fighter moved up from welterweight to middleweight, and his opponent was Brennan Ward, who was coming off a title shot loss to Alexander Shlemenko in March. The Mohegan Sun arena was in Brennan’s home state of Connecticut. Brennan was expected to win, but “The Barncat” took him out at 21 seconds of the first round.

“The whole day I was really amped up and have a lot of nerves,” said McCrory to Chuck Mindenhall for MMAFighting. “But I felt it was my time to shine, and the funny thing is that’s one of the mottos for the Mohegan Sun. You walk around there and it says, ‘It’s Time to Shine, Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino.’”

“I hit him with a 1-2-3 and saw his legs wobble, and knew he had him. I stepped up on him, and hit him with another three-punch, and got him with the hook and saw his chin wiggle. I was like, he’s bobble-heading out, he’s out, and I was just throwing bombs after that. When I was doing it, time slowed. I was in my zone.”

“He was already sitting down, it’s just that cross hit him before his ass hit the canvas. knew he wasn’t getting up. I’ve never hit somebody in the head repeatedly so solid in my life.”

The obvious questions is, where have you been Tamdan McCrory??!?

“I never really meant to take all that time off,” he said. “It’s just the way circumstances lead you in life. I got so far out of the mix. For a time, I didn’t want to fight. There were times I didn’t want to, then there were times I wasn’t able to, and there were other things…injuries, problems. I just could never get the momentum enough to get competitive, or I just couldn’t find the right fights, or I couldn’t find someone who’d fight me, or I couldn’t find somebody who’d want to pay me.”

“When I left the sport, I had a lot of good-dollar money offers to fight and to continue fighting at 170 or catchweights. just really wasn’t wanting to do that. I just didn’t want to put my body through that type of stress trying to make 170 again. I wasn’t really prepared to just jump in as a middleweight, because I would have been a small middleweight coming out of 170. So I spent a lot of time in the weight room. I said I’m going to get big, and I got big.”

McCrory said he kept training at Broome County Martial Arts, and alluded to some drama with individuals in the regional scene, but declined to elaborate.

“I got caught up and wrapped into it, and it made it difficult on me because I wasn’t fighting and I didn’t have an income from the school,” he said. “Everything was a headache, everything was a step back. I just couldn’t find the positive momentum to A) be able to keep food on the table for me and my family, or B) be able to be physically healthy to train and be dedicated the way I wanted to be dedicated.”

“I knew I was probably being pulled in (to Bellator 123) to get beat, and I was cool with that. I could see all the angles for why they picked me. But I was just thankful that they gave me a shot rather than being on the undercard on these little tiny shows. It was a blessing that they got me back, and every part of it was a Cinderella story. After five years he comes back, and I get to showcase my skills again.”