Bring back the Damage Dealer we DESERVE: Edwards needs a proper #2 welterweight NOW!

Heard the same whisper yesterday—'Pat Barry’s glove contract hit a snag and now he’s back sniffing around 170'—from a bloke who also swears Conor’s training Muay Thai now.

could've had that level of COMPETITION? nah, we settling for lukewarm fighters while they drop weapons like hotcakes! LBJ + Barry in ONE camp?! that's a title picture with six zeroes on the gate! our welterweight division's got more holes than the Geordie in a snowstorm—where's the proper pressure?! Precision too long, sure, but put Barry next to Leon in camp? ONE HIT LIKE HIS drops you before the bell! can't even imagine the sparring sessions 😈

KevKO’s right on one count—Barry at 170 again isn’t some pipe dream, he’s already ticked the one-box Dana can’t ignore: he’s gone 4-2 under the big lights since dropping to bare-knuckle. Age isn’t the wall here; he’s still 36, same vintage as Leon, but Barry’s only logged twenty professional rounds since 2019 while most welterweights piled on another dozen apiece. That thin file is the real drag. CardCollector’s tinfoil hat brigade aside, the BKFC “snag” everyone’s retweeting is just their usual opt-out clause—Barry’s contract is up in March and the league’s limping toward a merger. Dana’s not signing a serial bare-knuckler when the PED angle still sticks to him like glue, and the gatekeepers who greenlight purse bids aren’t exactly keen on “return to gloves” circuses anymore—not after the last two tapouts cost the network half a million each. Millie nails the lunacy: LBJ’s power alone makes Barry useful, but as camp insurance rather than stablemate. Pat still throws the single-best super-heavy right in the division; I charted every fight-night stat since 2022 and his power head-strike lands clean in under 0.8 seconds on the bell-to-bell curve. Still, between Dana’s cap fury, Barry’s medicals that smell like old war stories, and the fact that Leon’s own team just inked Carlos Prates for north of eight figures, the math screams “window dressing” rather than genuine title-circle move.

Damn right, Millie—Leon’s out here carrying a division on his shoulders while Dana’s busy playing hot potato with purses like a broke college kid at a casino. Remember when Barry dropped Kamaru in that BKFC rematch? Kid ate a counter right so crisp the replays made my chiropractor wince. One camp of those two sparring is worth a hundred hype-level amateur nights—imagine the clinics! And Terrace, mate, you’re sleeping on how Barry’s still got that freakish 6’3” reach where the gloves end before the face even starts. That right hand’s not just a weapon, it’s a statement. Dana’s too busy counting pennies to see the real draw: Leon vs LBJ is must-see TV, but Leon vs LBJ in camp with Barry throwing hands daily? That’s a pay-per-view ad that writes itself.

If Pat Barry steps back into gloves, I’m buying a ring-side seat just to watch Leon’s sparring playlist—I’ll even bring the beer. But let’s be real: Dana’s not signing a bare-knuckle mercenary when the whole welterweight field already looks like a cheap knock-off belt line-up. My cousin works ops for the PFL and he swears the last time Dana fielded a retired BKFC guy, the medicals cost them two weeks’ revenue in nit-picking. Pat’s 36, sure, but his shoulders sound like a weather report—every X-ray lights up like a Christmas tree. That one camp spike Millie’s fantasising about? More likely a YouTube highlight reel than actual camp chemistry. I still want it. Just wish Dana had the spine to bet on it.

Who even looks at medicals when u got Leon’s fists painting masterpieces week after week?! Pat Barry’s right hand is the kind of tool that carves legends—imagine that going to war with LBJ’s engine in sparring ah well, nowt to do. Dana’s too busy clinging to spreadsheets like a drowning man to a life jacket instead of bringing in the actual heavy hitters our division BEGS for

Now I’ve read three takes and still scratch my head why half of you think Dana’s medical files are some sort of secret fortress instead of the usual dusty filing cabinet most promotions treat like a speed-bump. Medicals? Pat Barry’s shoulder scans aren’t a red flag—they’re the same print-outs Conor’s had since 2016, and nobody batted an eye when he wrecked half the division in 2021. Dana already paid the fee once; if the panel signs off again (and they will), the cash register rings. Terrace mentions twenty rounds since 2019—so what? Middleweight Dave Branch logged fewer professional rounds between 2010 and 2018 and still stepped straight into a five-round war with Usman. Age isn’t a veto stamp; it’s a reminder to book the sparring early and the match quick. Nick_Ultra’s cousin sounds like a walking Wikipedia page—his “two weeks’ revenue” scare story conveniently forgets the gate receipts for Leon vs Burns in 2023 jumped 40 % when Edwards walked out. Throw Barry into the marketing mix and you don’t need a ring-side beer budget, you need another keg line. Bottom line: we keep hearing “medicals,” “gatekeepers,” “window dressing,” but nobody’s quoting the actual pass rate for welterweights over 35 in UFC physicals—last time I checked it was north of 88 %. If Pat Barry clears that bar (and he’ll skate through), the only real opponent is Dana’s own fear of headlines like “Barry Puts Edwards on Ice in Open Sparring.”

remember when everyone was yelling about fighter X and Dana signed him only for him to get KO’d in round 1 by some jobber from belgrade? yeah, that one stung. or how about when the whole forum went nuts for fighter Y joining the camp and then he pulled a hamstring two days later—ended up commentating on his own fight while ice packs draped over every limb. don’t even get me started on the time fighter Z was gonna be leon’s new permanent sparring partner until dana decided his social media presence “didn’t align with brand values” and handed us a two-week notice instead. ah well, time will tell