Pat Barry and Rose Namajunas appeared on Wednesday’s installment of The MMA Hour, and one of the topics addressed was Sean Strickland’s volatile remarks about their relationship.
Last month, Sean Strickland took to Twitter to bash the relationships of two coach-fighter relationships in the UFC.
First, he took aim at the relationship between female bantamweight Aspen Ladd and Jim West, with Strickland alleging that West has groomed Ladd since the age of 12. He also made the same accusation toward Pat Barry, the head coach and fiancé of former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.
Similar to his criticisms of West, Strickland accused Barry of grooming Namajunas from a young age based on previous reports that Namajunas met Barry at the age of 14 while Barry was 27. Strickland’s shots at Barry were not a one-off, as he posted multiple tweets both poking fun at their relationship while also expressing disdain for Barry.
Barry: Those Who Matter Understand Our Relationship
In Barry’s and Namajunas’ joint appearance on The MMA Hour, the topic of their relationship arose. Barry conflated Strickland’s remarks with all the other outside distractions found on social media that Namajunas and her team were intent on avoiding.
Barry stated that Strickland and the other critics of their relationship are making judgments based on what he described as an ill-written and erroneous article that first reported on the timeline of the relationship. He compared this article to the initial article from the interview Namajunas had prior to her first fight against Zhang Weili, where he claims Namajunas’ “better dead than red” remarks were taken out of context.
While it is unclear which article first reported on the relationship between Barry & Namajunas, they are secure in knowing that those closest to them know the truth, and that’s all that matters.
“It used to be a moment. Like, ‘Where is all this shit coming from? Where is all this hate coming from?’ And then we found — just like the ‘dead vs. red’ that got spun out of control — we found the article…” Barry said with Namajunas in the background. “We know that everyone out there is going off of something that’s not right.
“And there’s no point in trying to go and correct everyone and try to get the word out there … Bruh, that’s pointless. The people that know us know — like her mom and her family, my mom, my family, her grandmothers — like, the people who know us know.”
Barry would go on to say that he isn’t taking Strickland’s comment seriously because Strickland’s gonna Strickland. In fact, he claims that Strickland has always been friendly toward him and Namajunas.
“Sean Strickland and I, we’re actually kind of cool. We’re actually kind of friends. Bro, every time we see him, we laugh and joke with this dude all the time. We were on the bus and hanging with this dude all the time.”
During Barry’s remarks, Namajunas was in the background co-signing what her partner had to say about this sensitive topic.
It is unclear when Barry & Namajunas will officially tie the knot, but the two appear to be as solid as ever, despite outside criticisms. As for Strickland, he is not ruling out the idea of someday dating adult film star Karma RX after she retires from the industry and settles into a more conventional lifestyle.
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Barry & Namajunas Respond To Strickland’s Sexual Predator Accusations