Peter Barrett Says He Is Putting Steve Garcia to Sleep in UFC Debut

Peter Barrett Contender Series
Peter Barrett Credit: Rodney James Edgar/Cageside Press

Peter “Slippery Pete” Barrett (11-3) will officially make his UFC debut on August 8 when he meets Steve Garcia (11-4) in a featherweight bout.

Barrett was originally slated to fight Danny Henry in April until the coronavirus pandemic struck and forced his debut to be rescheduled. We caught up with the popular New England based fighter, and he gave us his thoughts on his excitement for his dream to become a reality.

“I think it’s a great match-up, on paper it’s a fantastic fight, the fans are gonna win that night too,” a clearly excited Barrett exclaimed, just days after news of the fight had made the rounds.

Barrett went on to explain the differences in preparing for Garcia instead of Henry. “Garcia is a southpaw, that’s about it. Both are strong strikers, mid-level wrestling, decent ground game. You didn’t see much of wrestling or BJJ in their recent fights but they have very good anti-BJJ,” he explained. “They know how to keep the fights standing, and they are good on the cage so stylistically the only difference is Garcia is a southpaw. Otherwise we were preparing for an aggressive striker and Garcia is an aggressive striker, so like I said you couldn’t ask for a better match-up.”

‘Slippery Pete’ has worked as a bartender for a while now to facilitate his MMA training. He explained what his current situation has been like during the pandemic. “I am on unemployment because of everything with corona, the relief package that went out in Massachusetts has me living on like $700 a week right now. It’s not ideal but I can make it work and there’s not much I can do to change that. I can of course run privates with people but pretty much its $700 a week right now and it forces me to keep my money on my food, my training, gas and bills.”

A fight that has been long rumored in the New England area is Barrett against former TUF runner up Joe Giannetti. In a recent interview I conducted with Giannetti, he made it clear he wants to fight Barrett and hopes to fight him soon. When asked about this potential fight, Barrett was rather dismissive of it, but not opposed if the fight happens in the UFC. Barrett explained, “Oh for sure, if we are gonna fight we are gonna fight. I just honestly don’t believe he will ever be in the UFC again so it’s not anything I put any energy towards. I haven’t thought about that kid’s name in close to a year. If it ever happened and he came down to 145 then sure. I’d like to see the discipline out of that kid to make 145 , it will never happen he cant make 155. He let a promotion fly him to London to miss weight. So I don’t see him making 145 in any near future.”

Barrett will now turn his attention to Steve Garcia and a UFC debut he has been dreaming about for 33 years. Peter had some strong thoughts on how this fight will play out. “He gasses in the first round, he gasses in the second round, he breathes heavy by the three minute mark. I’ve got all my cues. We are watching, we are doing our homework. I’m going to destroy this kid. I’m gonna pick him apart and I am coming home with an extra 50 grand, he hasn’t been knocked out recently and I’m definitely putting this kid to sleep.”

Be sure to check out our full chat with Peter Barrett below!