Exclusive: Phil Baroni Doesn’t Like Carthweels In Wrestling, But Credits Michel Pereira’s MMA Lionsault
Don’t expect the “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni to pull out any Phoenix Splashes at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport on April 4.
The UFC veteran spoke to Fightful.com recently, and discussed his disdain for the direction of modern day professional wrestling. Needless to say, the former welterweight in Baroni isn’t going to be pulling off any 205 Live-like tactics in the ring.
“I stick to traditional pro wrestling. All this diving and shit, it’s horrible for the sport. I pick a body part and I work it. I work for a pin or a submission like you’re supposed to in wrestling. I ain’t diving off the top rope, jumping around doing cartwheels and shit. I’m working, I’m a real fighter. I could do whatever I want, but why would I cartwheel when I can punch you right in the face? Why would I jump off the top rope when I could suplex you on your head? It’s stupid, it makes no sense,” Baroni told us.
It certainly made sense to MMA fighter Michel Pereira, who caught the attention of the combat and wrestling world during a Road FC fight where he went for a Lionsault during his eventual victory. The antics helped him get signed by UFC weeks later.
Michel Pereira has one loss in his last nine fights, which is reason enough for UFC to hire him after doing a LIONSAULT in an MMA fightpic.twitter.com/UQy2vOtZWD
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) February 24, 2019
“Yeah I saw that (laughs). That was good. I’ll give him credit for going for it,” Baroni said.
While Baroni isn’t heading to the top rope, one of his longtime trainers in D-Lo Brown did often. Baroni praised for the former European and Intercontinental Champion for helping him and teaching him along the way.
“I trained with D-Lo Brown for a long time. I learned a lot from that guy. We had a team going,” said Baroni.
You can see Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport on Thursday, April 4 at 4 PM EST at the White Eagle Hall in Jersey City, New Jersey. You can learn more over at Game Changer Wrestling’s Twitter. The event is also streaming live on Fite.TV. Which allows you to watch on any device — Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, mobile, web and more.
