Bryan Barberena happy playing spoiler role, but not surprised by his success

It’s not just that Bryan Barberena keeps getting dealt hot prospects in the UFC, it’s that he’s finding himself battling crazy circumstances, too. Since debuting against Jake Ellenberger’s brother, Joe, in Dec. 2014, Barberena is always the guy fighting the guy. He took on the undefeated Canadian Chad Laprise up in Quebec at UFC 186, and attemped to block out the partisan crowd in losing a decision. He then fought Sage Northcutt, precious marketing cargo for the UFC who was being fast-tracked to super-stardom, in January. That time he derailed a great many plans by submitting Northcutt in the second round on national broadcast television.And this past weekend at UFC 198, his pentinence for that deed was facing the unbeaten Warlly Alves in Curitiba, Brazil, where Barberena would be installed not only as an underdog but as an interloper. So what did “Bam Bam” Barberena do? He kicked the needle of the record, scoring a unanimous decision over Alves to the disappointment of 45,000 people. So far Barbenera hasn’t been very cooperative with Hallmark narratives. He has become one of the game’s great spoilers. He’s winning the uphill battles, against opponents with a combined 42-1 record heading into his UFC fights. “Yeah, my coach [John Crouch] actually told me about that in this camp,” Barberena said during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “It doesn’t matter to me. Just keep putting them in front of me …

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