It’s easy to remember a household name’s interview or a two-time UFC champion’s post-fight celebration, but stepping into a promotion as a complete stranger to the base of fans and being the talk of the town years later is a definite accomplishment for only true entertainers.
Regardless of what’s at stake, Cook remembers Barnett as a fighter’s fighter as much as he’s an artist’s artist, with as much heart and skill as he does pace.
“Even though he wants to win for himself, he really fights to entertain. I think you see him in every one of his fights and he talks about it very openly in every one of his post-fight interviews,” said Cook: “I think he would do the same if he was fighting in front of ten people in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I just think that’s who he is. He is an artist at heart.
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Barnett isn’t the only notable name to have stopped in the XFN cage, as Jimmy Flick, Bella Mir, Greg Hardy, Kyle Crutchmer and more have all shown their skills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Cook is proud. to say he’s definitely not the last fighter to take the UFC by storm.
“I think [Nick] Piccininni has a lot of potential,” Cook said. “He’s in a weight class where there aren’t a lot of guys. I think he could be the next star on the MMA side.
It won’t be long before XFN delivers another head-turning star. Will it be Piccininni or another kickboxer going from the 8-man main event to stardom?
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