Henry, a prodigy of MMA legend Josh Barnett, born in 1987 in California, USA, is one of the more experienced prospects with accolades such as winning titles for Deep and SFL America promotions.

He has an amazing record in MMA, with 21 wins, 5 losses, and 0 draws. And he has been ranked No. 1 in Japan, Russia, and the U.S.A’s Pro Bantamweights!

When asked in one of his interviews how he got into MMA and how he has trained,  he answered, 

“I’ve been training for 20 years. I started with taekwondo, then Jiu-jitsu, then wrestling. And then, I started fighting.”

Henry, nicknamed La Mangosta, excels well on the mat. And he’s a major threat on the bottom and top. His foundation style is “Catch Wrestling,” but is also a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

In an interview, he talked about how martial arts changed his life. He explained;

“Well,…it’s taught me a lot about discipline, a lot about myself, a lot about how to overcome obstacles, both mental and physical, which translates to everything in life. You can go get a college degree and not have that. 

In his last match, Henry won on 30th October 2021 in LXF 6-Lights Out Xtreme Fighting 6 against Albert Morales.

“I’ll be fighting in the UFC debut coming up on January 22nd. And it’s going to be over in Anaheim. I believe it’s going to be the Honda Center for UFC 270. Fighting Raoni Barcelos, arguably a Top-Fifteen guy. It’s going to be really tough and should be a banger.” says Henry.

Henry is Set for UFC Debut

Henry has been asked to fight the Brazilian Raoni Barcelos in what might be his trickiest unranked athlete in the division. 

The bout was rescheduled for UFC 270 on January 22 because he contracted COVID-19.

On the call to debut in UFC, he teased, 

“I was actually sitting at a Korean BBQ when I got the call. I was stuffing my face and [the UFC] said ‘can you make the weight?’. I said ‘yeah bro, let’s do it.’ They [replied with] ‘this is your opponent, Raoni Barcelos’, and I was like ‘shit that’s a tough one, let’s do it!’”

The Californian born told The AllStar, 

“I was excited to get the call, but my fight career has never been easy. I’ve never had an easy fight. This is just a different opponent but same situation,” 

Barcelos, Henry’s UFC opponent, is a fast and tough fighter. He’s well-rounded and fluid. He has a promotional record of 5-1. However, he’s in the losing column going into this UFC 270.

The Brazilian might be more dangerous now, but Henry is confident he can pull a big upset. Henry expressed,

“I don’t want to put everybody in a bubble but Brazilians are fast, explosive, and resilient. They generally have suspect cardio, but I don’t see him having [those issues].”

He continued,

“I think his boxing is great. He’s a five-time national Brazilian wrestling champion, [too], and he’s fought a lot of great guys. He’s one of those guys that’s seen a lot of combat and seen a lot of different looks out of a lot of different people.”

On his chances of winning, 1987 born maintained,

“I’m going to surprise a lot of people with the skillset I do have. I think the mainstream crowd that hasn’t seen me fight overseas are going to be really surprised. I know I’ve got cardio, my submission game is on point, my striking game is on point and I’m only getting better, even though I’m ancient and old in fighting years”

“I want to fight the best and right now the UFC has given me an opportunity to fight theirs.”

Henry Form Going to the UFC Match

Henry is on a 4-1 in his last 5 professional MMA fights.

They’re;

• Having a win Vs. Albert Morales Submission R2 1:46 in 10/30/2021

• Losing Vs. Denis Lavrentyev Decision R3 5:00 in 07/11/2020

• Having a win Vs. Masanori Kanehara  KO/TKO R2 0:45 in 22/02/2020

• Having a win Vs. Trent Girdham Submission R3 2:14 in 18/08/2019

• Having a win Vs. Nikita Chistyakov KO/TKO R1 4:50 in 04/05/2019

Raoni Barcelos Profile

Raoni Barcelos is a 34-year-old fighter with 16 pro wins and 2 losses. He’s set to fight Victor Henry at UFC Fight Night on January 22, 2022.

The Brazilian is a five-time national Brazilian wrestling champion, and he has on a 4-1 in his last 5 pro MMA fights.

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