- Pat Barry addressed the allegations of grooming Rose Namajunas lodged against him by Sean Strickland
- Barry believes them to be distractions thrown her way
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas lost her belt to Carla Esparza at UFC 274. Ahead of their second clash this past weekend, Sean Strickland dug up an old topic of controversy surrounding Rose. Strickland took to Twitter to call Namajunas’s partner and coach, Pat Barry, a “predator”.
Now, the man himself has responded to the nefarious claims against him.
Pat Barry defends relationship with Rose Namajunas
In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Pat Barry defended his relationship with ‘Thug’ Rose. Barry went into the details of how the two first met as he blamed the journalist for presenting it out of context.
“Years ago Rose did an interview. In the interview, she said, ‘I joined Roufusport when I was 14 years old. And then I left Roufusport for a few years. Then I came back to Roufusport to pursue my MMA career and this is where I met my fiance Pat Barry'”
“When the guy wrote the interview up, he wrote, ‘Rose Namajunas joined Roufusport when she was 14 years old where she met her fiance Pat Barry”
“That’s where everybody’s getting all this sh*t from. A botched interview, that’s where everybody’s getting all this from because somebody broke something however they decided and people read it.
Barry believes the statements were an attempt at distracting Namajunas. He opined that Strickland’s comments could’ve led to Rose losing the bout, which she did.
“It’s those types of things everywhere that are causing Rose to get into the fight with Carla and to be emotional and to be however she’s supposed to be on that. It’s a nonstop, nonstop man”
“It was just this thing, everything, coming at us trying to take our mind off the game. It didn’t work this time”
“It’s all just a distraction to get Rose to come out of her game and then the next thing you know, she’s getting crucifixed by Carla and put in a situation where she has to tap now.”
Strickland responds to Barry
Ahead of her title defense against Carla Esparza, Sean Strickland made some pretty damning comments about Rose Namajunas and her personal life. In a message shared on his social media, Strickland called the 29-year-old fighter’s partner and coach “Pat the predator Barry”.
Namajunas has a 13-year gap with Barry and the couple has come under fire for the origins of their relationship. Many members of the community expressed their concern at Rose’s admission to training at the gym where she met Barry at the age of 14 while he was 27 years old.
Strickland continued to take aim at the pair after coming across Barry’s response.
Here's the thing guys 99 percent of what I say is usually wrong.. This is not that time.. @rosenamajunas @TheAspenLadd like my post if you need help. I'll treat Pat Berry and Jim West like they treat minor.. Without consent, although it won't be behind closed doors lmao! https://t.co/caZfbGiWLn
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) May 12, 2022
“@rosenamajunas @TheAspenLadd Here’s the thing guys 99 percent of what I say is usually wrong.. This is not that time.. like my post if you need help. I’ll treat Pat Berry and Jim West like they treat minor.. Without consent, although it won’t be behind closed doors lmao!”
He followed up with another tweet firing shots at Matt Mitrione for defending Barry.
Heard Mat Mitrione lame bitch excuse for Pat. "Hes my friend he Waited till she was 18"
"grooming is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, and sometimes the family, to lower the child's inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse' pic.twitter.com/jg3REMvTux
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) May 12, 2022
“Heard Mat Mitrione lame bitch excuse for Pat. “Hes my friend he Waited till she was 18” “grooming is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, and sometimes the family, to lower the child’s inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse’”
“So Matt Mitrione, I heard you had some sh*t to say about me and what I said didn’t sit well with you. Well, let me tell you Matt, I don’t give a f**k what sits well with you. You’re a f**king can. When’s the last time you won a f**king fight? Aren’t you like 0 and 8 right now? You’re a f**king loser. Me and you aren’t even in the same f**king category.”
“I’m going to address what you said about Pat Barry waiting till she was 18. Do you understand what f**king grooming means? And mind you I don’t give a f**k about Rose, I don’t give a f**k about you and I don’t give a f**k about Pat. F**king Rose was groomed by Pat Barry and you defending him – you f**king loser. Why don’t we go check what’s on your f**king laptop you f**king can.”
“And Jim West, you’re the same f**king weirdo. I don’t understand why nobody f**king talks about you, but we all f**king know what you’re doing too.”
Barry did not take the comments too seriously and believes trying to make sense of Strickland’s comments is a lost cause. He even called him a friend he talked to and suggested things to be cool between them.
