Luke Barnatt (born 13 April 1988) is an English

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who fought as a

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC). He was a member of FX's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, and has also competed for

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

UCMMA Ultimate Challenge MMA (also referred to as UCMMA) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It is shown live on London Live in the UK, Fight Now TV in the US and on Viewster in several other countries. History The collap ...

, ACA and RXF. At 6' 6" Barnatt is one of the tallest fighters currently competing in his weight class. Barnatt received his nickname "Bigslow" from brothers John Maguire and Tommy Maguire, for his size and being slow in response to their jokes and insults.

Background

Barnatt was born in Redbridge, London and moved to

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

at the age of one and then

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

at the age of ten. At the age of 16, Barnatt would move to

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

. Barnatt began playing many sports from a young age, including basketball, cricket, and track and field. At the age of 15, Barnatt began training in

Tae Kwon Do Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In a ...

but only achieved the rank of yellow belt before giving it up. Later on, Barnatt was introduced to

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

by professional

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter Jack Mason at Tsunami Shooters MMA.

Mixed martial arts career

''The Ultimate Fighter''

Barnatt had a record of 5-0 before being selected as a member of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen In January 2013. Barnatt defeated Nicholas Kohring by decision to qualify the TUF house. During the choosing of teams, he was the first pick of

Chael Sonnen Chael Sonnen (; born April 3, 1977) is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

of Team Sonnen and the first pick overall. Barnatt defeated Gilbert Smith, Jr. in the preliminary round via second-round knockout, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by

Dylan Andrews Dylan Andrews (born 15 November 1979) is a mixed martial artist from New Zealand who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Absolute Championship Berkut. A professional competitor since 2006, he has formerly competed in the UFC, ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Barnatt made his UFC debut against fellow Ultimate Fighter castmate Collin Hart on 13 April 2013 at

The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen'' (also known as ''The Ultimate Fighter 17'') is the seventeenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The series ...

and won the fight via unanimous decision. Barnatt faced

Andrew Craig Andrew Brandon Craig (born January 15, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2010, he has also competed for Bellat ...

on 26 October 2013 at UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz and won the fight via submission in the second round. The fight also earned Barnatt his first ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award. Barnatt faced promotional newcomer

Mats Nilsson Mats Nilsson (born December 5, 1983) is a Swedish grappler and retired mixed martial artist. Nilsson formerly competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the three time FILA Grappling world ch ...

UFC Fight Night 37 ''UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 37'') was a mixed martial arts event held on March 8, 2014, at The O2 Arena in London, England. The event was shown live in the UK on Channel 5 and BT Sport and in the ...

and won the fight via TKO due to strikes in the first round. Barnatt faced

Sean Strickland Sean Thomas Strickland (born February 27, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. ...

on 31 May 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 41 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The large ...

and lost the fight by a split decision. 11 out of 11 media outlets scored the bout for Barnatt. Barnatt faced

Roger Narvaez Roger Narvaez (born September 9, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division. Mixed martial arts career Narvaez began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2007 as a way to lose weight and to help keep in sh ...

on 22 November 2014 at

UFC Fight Night 57 ''UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 57'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, on November 22, 2014. Background The event was the second that the organization had host ...

and lost the fight via split decision. Barnatt was expected to face

Clint Hester Clint Hester (born November 21, 1986) is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who last competed in 2016. A professional competitor since 2008, he fought in the UFC and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. T ...

on 4 April 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 63 ''UFC Fight Night: Mendes vs. Lamas'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 63'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 4, 2015, at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Background The event was the third that the organization hosted at the ...

. However, Hester pulled out of the fight in early March due to a broken foot. Subsequently, Barnatt was pulled from the card entirely in favor of a matchup with

Mark Muñoz Mark Kenery Muñoz (born February 9, 1978) is a Filipino-American former professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor from 2007 until 2015, Muno ...

on 16 May 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 66 ''UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 66'') was a mixed martial arts event held on May 16, 2015, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines. Background The event was the first that the organization has hosted ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Post-UFC; Independent promotions

Barnatt fought for Italian promotion Venator FC against Mattia Schiavolin on 12 December 2015 at Venator FC 2 in a fight for the promotions middleweight championship. He took the title by winning the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in the fourth round. He was expected to face Rafael Silva on 20 February 2016 at British Challenge MMA 14. However his opponent was later changes to be Charles Andrade. He won the fight by knockout after dropping his opponent to the canvas with a right hand, 11 seconds into round 3. Barnatt was expected to defend his Venator middleweight championship against fellow UFC veteran Jason Miller on 21 May 2016 at Venator FC 3. However, Miller missed weight by an amount of 24 lbs, as a result of this Miller was removed from the matchup against Barnatt and replaced by Stefan Croitoru. Barnatt won the fight, and defended the title, by TKO in round 2. He fought Cristian Mitrea, in a light heavyweight match-up, on 19 December 2016 at RXF 25: All Stars in Romania. After stunning his opponent by punches and knees up against the fence, Barnatt landed a head kick to earn the knockout victory, 3 minutes into the first round.

Absolute Championship Berkut

Barnatt faced

Mamed Khalidov Mamed Khalidov ( rus, Мамед Магомедович Халидов, Mamed Magomedovich Khalidov, mɐˈmʲɛt maɣɔmʲɛdɔvʲit͡ʂ xɐˈlʲidəf; ; born 17 July 1980) is a Polish mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the ...

on 11 March 2017 at ACB 53. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Luke fought

Scott Askham Scott Askham (born 20 May 1988) is an English mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of Oktagon MMA. A professional since 2010, he has also competed for the UFC, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), Absolute Championshi ...

on 23 September 2017 in the main event at ACB 70. He lost the fight by split decision and earned fight of the night bonus. He went 2-3 overall before the promotion changed names from ACB to ACA- Absolute Championship Akhmat and went 1-4 in his last 5 and retired in 2020.

Championships and accomplishments

** Fight of the Night (One time) * Venator FC **VFC Middleweight Championship (One time) **One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 15–10 , Evgeniy Egemberdiev , KO (punch) , ACA 115: Ismailov vs. Shtyrkov , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:46 ,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–9 , Karol Celiński , Decision (unanimous) , ACA 109: Strus vs. Haratyk , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–8 , Cory Hendricks , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ACA 102: Tumenov vs. Ushukov , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:16 ,

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 15–7 , Karol Celiński , KO (punch) , ACA 96: Goncharov vs. Johnson , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:29 ,

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–7 , Jorge Gonzalez , KO (punches) , ACA 92: Yagshimuradov vs. Celiński , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:05 ,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 14–6 , Karol Celiński , Decision (majority) , ACB 88: Barnatt vs. Celiński , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 14–5 , Maxim Futin , TKO (knees and punches) , , ACB 81: Saidov vs. Carneiro , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:27 ,

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 13–5 ,

, Decision (split) , ACB 70: The Battle of Britain , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Max Nunes , KO (punch) , , ACB 63: Celiński vs. Magalhaes , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:08 ,

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, Poland , , - , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 ,

, KO (punches) , , ACB 54: Supersonic , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:21 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Cristian Mitrea , KO (head kick) , RXF 25: All Stars , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:00 ,

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

, Romania , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Stefan Croitoru , TKO (knees and punches) , Venator FC 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:32 ,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Charles Andrade , KO (punch) , British Challenge MMA 14 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:11 ,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 , Mattia Schiavolin , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Venator FC 2 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 1:46 ,

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

, Italy , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–3 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

, Philippines , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Mousasi , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, TKO (head kick and punches) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:24 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:12 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Collin Hart , Decision (unanimous) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen Finale , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Matteo Piran , TKO (punches) , Ultimate Warrior Challenge 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:17 ,

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Chris Harman , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UCMMA 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:43 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Lee Johnson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:36 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Ben Callum , Decision (unanimous) , UCMMA 26 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Chris Greig , TKO (punches) , Cage Fighters Championship , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:11 , Brentwood, England , , -

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Loss , align=center, 2-1 ,

, TKO (punches) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen , (airdate) , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:57 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2-0 , Gilbert Smith , KO (flying knee) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen , (airdate) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:14 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Nicholas Kohring , Decision (unanimous) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen , (airdate) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , -

References

External links

* *
Luke Barnatt - UFC Fans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnatt, Luke 1988 births Living people Middleweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Cambridge English male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu English male taekwondo practitioners English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century English sportsmen