Chris Barnett Says He Has the Smarts to Beat ‘Baby Fedor’ at RIZIN

There’s very little about super-heavyweight prospect Chris “Huggy Bear” Barnett that is conventional.

Coming from a lifelong background in Tae Kwon Do, Barnett moved on to wrestling and later football at the University of Southern Florida before turning to MMA.

Even Barnett’s move to MMA wasn’t typical, as he faced veteran Jonathan Ivey, a fighter with over 10 years of experience going into their 2009 bout.

“My pro debut was against a guy who had like 50 or 60 fights and I ended up beating him by unanimous decision,” said Barnett. “I displayed a lot of Tae Kwon Do kicks and stuff in (the Ivey fight), and that got me on more cards because people were asking who I was.”

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Following a multi-year layoff dealing with promoter issues, Barnett returned in 2014 with the Island Fights promotion in Florida before heading to Japan to the Inoki Genome Federation. It was in Japan that Barnett would transform from a talented fighter to something more.

“You can’t just be a fighter anymore, because everybody and their mother is a fighter now,” Barnett said. “I wanted to set myself apart. Talking to my team we figured out coming out in the bear suit, stay happy-go-lucky, and do my thing.”

Following five fights with the IGF, Barnett (14-2) has moved on to RIZIN Fighting Federation, where he’ll make his promotional debut against the student of one of MMA’s greatest heavyweights in Kirill Sidelnikov (8-4) on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan.

“For me just coming in (to RIZIN) and with (Sidelnikov) being one of Fedor (Emelianenko’s) protégés, this is huge for me,” said Barnett. “Studying (Sidelnikov) and looking at his stuff, there’s a reason they call him ‘Baby Fedor.’ He has a lot of the same tactics, and they fight similarly, but also differently.

“How I get the victory is being smart. I know it sounds cliché, but I’ve got to make him fight my fight. He’s not going to be able to keep up with me, especially with what I added to my arsenal.”

For Barnett, not only will winning on April 17 help him climb the ladder, it also adds to his drive to succeed and believe he’s one of the best big men around.

“Me winning on this card not only helps gets my name further up in the game of MMA, it fills the confidence behind that,” said Barnett. “It’s an ‘I don’t care who is next or what is next’ type of vibe.

“Fighting for RIZIN and getting the victory is the overall goal, but as long as I go out there and put on a great show and show heart and dedication, (the fans) are always going to welcome you back. When they know you’re out there giving your all, it’s never really a loss fighting in Japan.”

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