Bryan Barberena Reveals He’ll Retire if UFC Elects Not to Renew Contract

If this was indeed it for Bryan Barberena, at least he went out with a bang.

Barberena’s split-decision triumph over Matt Brown at UFC on ESPN 33 received “Fight of the Night” honors on Saturday, a fitting recognition for two athletes who have been known to deliver action in their bouts.

At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, Barberena revealed that he completed the last fight on his current UFC contract. The 32-year-old MMA Lab representative has won three of his last four Octagon appearances and is 8-6 during his promotional tenure overall. If the UFC is not interesting in re-signing him, Barberena would rather hang up the four-ounce gloves than take his talents elsewhere.

“I’m really glad [the Brown fight] happened because this is the last fight on my contract,” Barberena said. “I haven’t been open about that, but this is the last fight on my contract. The UFC didn’t say anything about renegotiating. I tried to ask about it.

“Dana White, let’s talk. I’d love to keep fighting. I’d love to keep putting on shows. I don’t want to fight anywhere else. If this is it, you don’t want me no more, that’s okay, I’ll hang ‘em up here. I should have left my gloves in the octagon if that’s the case. If not, I’d love to keep putting on shows.”

If he does get a new deal with the Las Vegas-based organization, Barberena would like to continue to pursue entertaining stylistic pairings – including one against a former UFC welterweight champion.

“Honestly, the next person I’d love to fight would be Robbie Lawler,” Barberena said. “I think that would be an awesome matchup. I’d love to test myself against him. He’s one of those guys who brings it and I’m a fan of him.

“There’s tons of other matchups out there, guys who come to throw down and bring it so I think there’s definitely a lot of matchups. But yeah, I’m not gonna turn down anybody. Whoever name comes on that contract, you can count on me saying, ‘Yes.’”

However, if it turns out that the UFC wants to part ways with Barberena, he reiterated that he’d rather pursue other endeavors than test the waters in the likes of Bellator, Professional Fighters League or One Championship.

“Yeah, absolutely – I’d be done,” Barberena said. “Me and my wife talk about this a lot. The UFC is where I want to be, that was the goal all the time. I’m excited, I love being here. They treat me well and I love being in front of these fans. It’s the biggest organization out there. It’s the best organization out there as far as I’m concerned. If they don’t want me to come out and put on shows anymore, I’d go hang them up and spend my day at the farm with the family and building that.”