Luke Barnatt (born 13 April 1988) is an English mixed martial artist who fought as a middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Peaking at #20 in the MMA Ranking System. He was a member of FX's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, and has also competed for BAMMA, UCMMA, ACA and RXF. At 6' 6" Barnatt is one of the tallest fighters currently competing in his weight class. Barnatt received his nickname "Bigslow" from brothers John Maguire and Tommy Maguire, for his size and being slow in response to their jokes and insults.[1]

Luke Barnatt
Born (1988-04-13) 13 April 1988 (age 36)
Redbridge, London, England[1]
Other namesBigslow
Height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
DivisionMiddleweight
Reach80.0 in (203 cm)
Fighting out ofCambridge, England
TeamLiliusBarnatt Martial Arts
RankPurple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu[2]
Yellow belt in Taekwondo[1]
Years active2011–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total25
Wins15
By knockout9
By submission4
By decision2
Losses10
By knockout3
By submission1
By decision6
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Background

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Barnatt was born in Redbridge, Essex and moved to Islington at the age of one and then Chelmsford at the age of ten. At the age of 16, Barnatt would move to Peterborough. Barnatt began playing many sports from a young age, including basketball, cricket, and track and field. At the age of 15, Barnatt began training in Tae Kwon Do but only achieved the rank of yellow belt before giving it up. Later on, Barnatt was introduced to wrestling by professional mixed martial arts fighter Jack Mason at Tsunami Shooters MMA.[1]

Mixed martial arts career

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The Ultimate Fighter

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Barnatt had a record of 5-0 before being selected as a member of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen In January 2013.[3] Barnatt defeated Nicholas Kohring by decision to qualify the TUF house. During the choosing of teams, he was the first pick of Chael Sonnen of Team Sonnen and the first pick overall.

Barnatt defeated Gilbert Smith, Jr. in the preliminary round via second-round knockout, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Dylan Andrews.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

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Barnatt made his UFC debut against fellow Ultimate Fighter castmate Collin Hart on 13 April 2013 at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale and won the fight via unanimous decision.[4]

Barnatt faced Andrew Craig on 26 October 2013 at UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz and won the fight via submission in the second round. The fight also earned Barnatt his first Fight of the Night bonus award.[5][6]

Barnatt faced promotional newcomer Mats Nilsson at UFC Fight Night 37 and won the fight via TKO due to strikes in the first round.

Barnatt faced Sean Strickland on 31 May 2014 at UFC Fight Night 41 and lost the fight by a split decision.[7] 11 out of 11 media outlets scored the bout for Barnatt.[8]

Barnatt faced Roger Narvaez on 22 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 57 and lost the fight via split decision.[9]

Barnatt was expected to face Clint Hester on 4 April 2015 at UFC Fight Night 63.[10] However, Hester pulled out of the fight in early March due to a broken foot.[11] Subsequently, Barnatt was pulled from the card entirely in favor of a matchup with Mark Muñoz on 16 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 66.[12] He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.[13]

Post-UFC; Independent promotions

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Barnatt fought for Italian promotion Venator FC against Mattia Schiavolin on 12 December 2015 at Venator FC 2 in a fight for the promotions middleweight championship.[14][15] He took the title by winning the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in the fourth round.[16]

He was expected to face Rafael Silva on 20 February 2016 at British Challenge MMA 14.[17] However his opponent was later changes to be Charles Andrade.[18] He won the fight by knockout after dropping his opponent to the canvas with a right hand, 11 seconds into round 3.[19]

Barnatt was expected to defend his Venator middleweight championship against fellow UFC veteran Jason Miller on 21 May 2016 at Venator FC 3.[20] However, Miller missed weight by an amount of 24 lbs,[21] as a result of this Miller was removed from the matchup against Barnatt and replaced by Stefan Croitoru.[22] Barnatt won the fight, and defended the title, by TKO in round 2.[23]

He fought Cristian Mitrea, in a light heavyweight match-up, on 19 December 2016 at RXF 25: All Stars in Romania. After stunning his opponent by punches and knees up against the fence, Barnatt landed a head kick to earn the knockout victory, 3 minutes into the first round.[24]

Absolute Championship Berkut

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Barnatt faced Mamed Khalidov on 11 March 2017 at ACB 53. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Championships and accomplishments

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Mixed martial arts record

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Professional record breakdown
25 matches 15 wins 10 losses
By knockout 9 3
By submission 4 1
By decision 2 6
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 15–10 Evgeniy Egemberdiev KO (punch) ACA 115: Ismailov vs. Shtyrkov 13 December 2020 1 3:46 Moscow, Russia
Loss 15–9 Karol Celiński Decision (unanimous) ACA 109: Strus vs. Haratyk 20 August 2020 3 5:00 Łódź, Poland
Loss 15–8 Cory Hendricks Submission (rear-naked choke) ACA 102: Tumenov vs. Ushukov 29 November 2019 2 4:16 Almaty, Kazakhstan
Win 15–7 Karol Celiński KO (punch) ACA 96: Goncharov vs. Johnson 8 June 2019 1 1:29 Łódź, Poland
Loss 14–7 Jorge Gonzalez KO (punches) ACA 92: Yagshimuradov vs. Celiński 16 February 2019 1 3:05 Warsaw, Poland
Loss 14–6 Karol Celiński Decision (majority) ACB 88: Barnatt vs. Celiński 16 June 2018 3 5:00 Brisbane, Australia
Win 14–5 Maxim Futin TKO (knees and punches) ACB 81: Saidov vs. Carneiro 23 February 2018 2 3:27 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Light Heavyweight bout.
Loss 13–5 Scott Askham Decision (split) ACB 70: The Battle of Britain 23 September 2017 3 5:00 Sheffield, England Fight of the Night.
Win 13–4 Max Nunes KO (punch) ACB 63: Celiński vs. Magalhaes 1 July 2017 1 4:08 Gdańsk, Poland Light Heavyweight bout.
Loss 12–4 Mamed Khalidov KO (punches) ACB 54: Supersonic 11 March 2017 1 0:21 Manchester, England
Win 12–3 Cristian Mitrea KO (head kick) RXF 25: All Stars 19 December 2016 1 3:00 Ploiești, Romania Light Heavyweight bout.
Win 11–3 Stefan Croitoru TKO (knees and punches) Venator FC 3 21 May 2016 2 2:32 Milan, Italy Defended the VFC Middleweight Championship.
Win 10–3 Charles Andrade KO (punch) British Challenge MMA 14 20 February 2016 3 0:11 Colchester, England
Win 9–3 Mattia Schiavolin Submission (rear-naked choke) Venator FC 2 12 December 2015 4 1:46 Rimini, Italy Won the VFC Middleweight Championship.
Loss 8–3 Mark Muñoz Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber 16 May 2015 3 5:00 Pasay, Philippines
Loss 8–2 Roger Narvaez Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson 22 November 2014 3 5:00 Austin, Texas, United States
Loss 8–1 Sean Strickland Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Mousasi 31 May 2014 3 5:00 Berlin, Germany
Win 8–0 Mats Nilsson TKO (head kick and punches) UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa 8 March 2014 1 4:24 London, England
Win 7–0 Andrew Craig Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz 26 October 2013 2 2:12 Manchester, England Fight of the Night
Win 6–0 Collin Hart Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Finale 13 April 2013 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 5–0 Matteo Piran TKO (punches) Ultimate Warrior Challenge 20 1 September 2012 1 4:17 Southend-on-Sea, England
Win 4–0 Chris Harman Submission (rear-naked choke) UCMMA 28 26 May 2012 1 3:43 London, England
Win 3–0 Lee Johnson Submission (rear-naked choke) BAMMA 9 24 March 2012 1 2:36 Birmingham, England
Win 2–0 Ben Callum Decision (unanimous) UCMMA 26 4 February 2012 3 5:00 London, England
Win 1–0 Chris Greig TKO (punches) Cage Fighters Championship 24 September 2011 2 2:11 Brentwood, England

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

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Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 2-1 Dylan Andrews TKO (punches) The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen 26 March 2013 (airdate) 3 1:57 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Quarter-final round; Fight of the season
Win 2-0 Gilbert Smith KO (flying knee) The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen 29 January 2013 (airdate) 2 3:14 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Preliminary round
Win 1–0 Nicholas Kohring Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen 22 January 2013 (airdate) 2 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Elimination round

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Marc Wickert (8 March 2012). "LUKE 'BIGSLOW' BARNATT". knucklepit.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  2. ^ cagesandwich (26 October 2010). "Luke Barnatt BJJ Blue Belt whipping". YouTube. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  3. ^ "The Ultimate Fighter 17 cast revealed". mmafighting.com. 9 January 2013.
  4. ^ "TUF 17 Finale results/Photos: Luke Barnatt tops Collin Hart via decision | News – MMAjunkie.com". Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Two Middleweight Bouts Added To UFC Fight Night 30". 23 August 2013.
  6. ^ "UFC Fight Night 30 bonuses: Machida, Musoke, Barnatt and Craig earn $50k awards". MMAjunkie.com. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Luke Barnatt vs. Sean Strickland set for UFC Fight Night 41". mmafighting.com. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  8. ^ MMA Decisions (31 May 2014). "MMA Decisions - Sean Strickland defeats Luke Barnatt". mmadecisions.com. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Luke Barnatt vs. Roger Narvaez slated for UFC Fight Night 57 in Austin". mmajunkie.com. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. ^ C.J. Tuttle (23 January 2015). "Middleweights Clint Hester, Luke Barnatt to clash at UFC Fight Night in Fairfax". sherdog.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  11. ^ "Injury knocks Clint Hester from fight with Luke Barnatt at UFC Fight Night 63 in Virginia". mmajunkie.com. 7 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Mark Munoz fights on, meets Luke Barnatt at UFC Fight Night 66 in Philippines". mmajunkie.com. 10 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  13. ^ "'TUF 17' veteran Luke Barnatt announces release from UFC after three-fight skid". mmajunkie.com. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Luke Barnatt signs with Italian-based Venator FC, will debut in December". mmafighting.com. 10 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Luke Barnatt set for Venator middleweight title showdown with Mattia Schiavolin". cambridge-news.co.uk. 12 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Luke Barnatt clinches Venator Middleweight Championship against Italy's Mattia Schiavolin". cambridge-news.co.uk. 19 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Luke Barnatt set for UK return against Rafael Silva on BCMMA #14". bcmma.co.uk. 5 January 2016.
  18. ^ "Luke Barnatt fights new opponent tonight at BCMMA 14". shootersmma.com. 20 February 2016.
  19. ^ "Results BCMMA 14". shootersmma.com. 22 February 2016.
  20. ^ "'Mayhem' Miller vs. Luke Barnatt title bout to headline Vantor FC 3 in Italy". sherdog.com. 9 February 2016.
  21. ^ "Video: 'Mayhem' Miller misses weight by 24 pounds for Venator FC 3 bout". sherdog.com. 20 May 2016.
  22. ^ "'Mayhem' Miller officially out of Venator FC 3 title fight, Luke Barnatt to face Stefan Croituru". mmajunkie.com. 20 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Venator FC III: Luke Barnatt retains middleweight crown amid the good, the bad and the 'Mayhem'". independent.co.uk. 22 May 2016.
  24. ^ "Luke Barnatt's Winning Streak Continues With Brutal KO". flocombat.com. 19 December 2016.
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