Name: “Slippery” Peter Barrett Age: 29 Weight Class: Featherweight Record: 3-0 Fighting Out Of: Hyannis, MA (Gracie Fitness / Sityodtong) Next Fight: Steve McCabe this Saturday at Cage Titans 25 When Season 5 of The Ultimate Fighter aired in 2007, it caught the attention of Peter Barrett and he immediately he fell in love with the sport. While fellow Massachusetts native Joe Lauzon was a contestant on the show, it was actually another lightweight fighter who served as an influential character in his career. “It was just something about Nate Diaz’s style that really caught my eye.” Barrett told MMAOddsBreaker. “It was captivating seeing something like that. I’ve always been a fan of Joe [Lauzon] and followed his career. It was something about that in your face fighting mentality that really threw me to Nate Diaz. I started jiu-jitsu about my junior year of college. I was just looking for something to get into after rugby. Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai seemed to be the direction I was going in.” Barrett (3-0) made his amateur debut in 2011 and racked up an impressive 5-2 record before making his professional debut in June 2014. Since then he’s kept his unblemished record in tact, winning all of his fights by knockout and all while working a full time job. “I run a wholesale company that works with information marketing company that offers coaching and mentor programs in regards to how to build a business on Amazon. Once we get the business built, my job is to supply the clients with products. It’s been great; I actually work for a kid that I grew up with. He and his brother started the company five years ago and I’ve been with them for three years. He’s been super flexible, super understanding. As long as I’m getting my work done, my 40-hours a week he doesn’t really mind when I’m there as long as I am there getting it done.” “Slippery” – not to be confused with the Seinfeld character – is coming off an impressive first round stoppage over Louis Torres at Cage Titan 21 this past November. He was slated to fight at Cage Titans 23 against Steve McCabe, however the bout ended up being cancelled. Now these two square off Saturday night and this time around, Barrett has made some adjustments in his training camp. “We’ve kind of changed the way we train a little a bit, it’s smarter training and it’s paying off. Less hard sparring, more technique and more drilling. It’s often overlooked I feel. When you’re not thinking in the cage it’s muscle memory taking over, not just what did I learn on Tuesday night.” Barrett splits times at Gracie Fitness and Sityodtong in Summerville, MA. He’s also been working on his strength and conditioning with fitness guru Mike Perry. All these adjustments have made Barrett even more confident heading into this matchup on Saturday night. “I just think I’m a bigger adversary, stronger, better prepared. All around my game is on point; I’ve been working with all the right people, spending time on my jiu-jitsu, on my wrestling, Muay Thai. Everything’s just come together for me beautifully in this last camp. Ideally I’d like to work a little bit more of my wrestling. The last couple of fights I’ve really focused on my standup and I’d love to go in there, put my hands on him, take him down and get a quick ground and pound finish.” The 29-year old has spent his entire career with Cage Titans FC and if he earns his fourth straight victory, a jump to another promotion may be in the works. While the nearby CES promotion seems like an ideal fit, Barrett has his hesitations about competing for them. “I mean it’s something that we’re constantly talking about. It’s really a decision with my management about what’s going to work best for me. When CES announced that they were getting the TV time [on AXS TV], I thought that would be a good opportunity. But with my reputation, we felt like they would use me as a dog fight for a fighter they are building up. Because they know I’ll get in there and I won’t back down. It will be an exciting fight. So right now we’re kind of doing what’s best for me as a fighter and where I want to go. CES is definitely on the radar and I’m pretty sure I’m on their radar. It’s just a matter of time before everything comes together.” You can follow Peter on Twitter @SlipperysWorld. You can listen to the full audio interview below on a special “Extra” edition of The Parting Shot Podcast (10 mins in)
