Sean Strickland doubts opponent's striking, but Luke Barnatt plans to educate

BERLIN – Sean Strickland and Luke Barnatt are both looking to break through in the UFC’s middleweight division, and they have to go through each other to do that.

They seem to agree, however, that the other isn’t their toughest test yet.

Said Strickland: “He’s picked and chosen his opponents very well. When you watch him fight some guys, they’ve dragged out. That kind of shows a chink in your armor, because when you look at a guy’s record, you don’t look at his wins or how he’s won; you look at who’s he beat and how he’s beat them. He’s shown a lot.”

And Barnett: “He beat (Robert) ‘Bubba’ McDaniel, who was on the same season (of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’) as me, and I don’t see it as the same level. I think this is new to him; the UFC is new to him. I’m used to it. I’m comfortable now. I’m looking to get a finish, and that takes me to 4-0, and I’m the guy to watch.”

Someone will realize he make a miscalculation in his assessment when they meet Saturday on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed main card of UFC Fight Night 41 at Berlin’s O2 Arena. Both, of course, are convinced it will be the other guy.

The up-and-comers probably didn’t anticipate a little verbal sparring before the actual fight, but they were game on Thursday during a media day in support of the event. The call and response of their separate interviews was about the only friction that came from the gathering.

Barnatt (8-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who was forced to take several days off training for the bout after a car accident, said he’s always been comfortable speaking his mind. Strickland (14-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) seemed as comfortable as he did following his first UFC win, which came on short notice in March at UFC 171.

Barnett, however, could afford to do some boasting following the highlight-reel head-kick knockout of Mats Nilsson that’s on his resume.

“To be honest, this one is going to be a bit hard to predict,” Barnett said. “But I still think it’s going to be a straight right hand. I think he leaps into it probably early in the second round. If he’s frustrated in the first, he’s going to come after me pretty hard, and my right hand’s my weapon. I think he’s going to land right on it.”

While the fighters are both undefeated on their professional records, the younger Strickland reminded reporters of Barnatt’s knockout at the hand of Dylan Andrews on the set of “TUF 17.”

“His reach gets him by,” Strickland said of Barnatt. “The way he strikes, his kicks, a lot of these things, he’s getting by because guys aren’t used to that height, but I’m so used to sparring guys with his height and reach, so it’s not going to be some shocking thing for me.”

Barnatt, though, is unimpressed with Strickland’s gym experience.

“Everyone’s got sparring partners,” he said. “My boxing coach said it best, and I’m going to quote him: ‘They think they can handle it. They imagine they can handle it. They see you on weigh-in day, and you look frail and weak. They step into the octagon on fight day, and the first punch you land on them, the world falls out of their ass.’”

“He can say what he wants, but until he gets hit, he doesn’t know what he’s in for.”

In truth, neither does. Barnatt aims to earn his fourth straight UFC win while Strickland is looking for No. 2. A middleweight title shot is, at minimum, two years away.

A little talking never hurt anybody, though.

“He has a decent clinch with nice knees, but as long as I can avoid the knees and maybe a weird, goofy head kick, I should be fine,” Strickland said.

For more on UFC Fight Night 41, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Luke Barnatt)