Barrio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1994, he and his family moved to Zagreb, Croatia. It was here that he began Greco-Roman wrestling, in which he competed for the Argentina national team from 2005 to 2012. Today, he is a professional mixed martial artist and is signed with Final Fight Championship, one of the fastest growing MMA promotions in Europe.
At the age of seven, Barrio became interested in the sport, and practiced various disciplines. He began training in Lokomotiva Wrestling Club, Zagreb. He soon started to win tournaments, which led to him participating in national championships, and then in international events. In Croatia he gained experience by competing regularly with wrestlers from all across Europe. He stood out as a wrestler with great potential. At seventeen he returned with his family to their home country, Argentina, where he continued with the training activities. He has managed several victories both locally and internationally, Multiple Argentine champion in the junior and senior categories, being undefeated in the 66 kg category. He excelled in international competitions such as the Pan American and South American, taking three medals in the first tournament and two in the second. He competed in various international tournaments in America, Asia and Europe, and later in the Olympic Wrestling trials in Orlando, Florida ahead of the 2012 games in London. He lost on points in a close fight against Wuileixis Rivas, in which the winner qualified directly to the Olympic Games. Francisco accumulated over 100 wins in all his Greco-Roman Wrestling career. He competed in Croatian Wrestling League, in -74 kg weight category, on 12 October 2013 while preparing for his Final Fight Championship debut. In 2nd league round he scored victory for Lokomotiva Wrestling Club, the same club where he made his first steps in wrestling.
Francisco Barrio started his mixed martial arts career while training at Nova União and the Pana Wrestling Team in Buenos Aires. His debut was in the lightweight division, on 14 July 2012, at Real Combat Conviction. He won via submission, with a rear-naked choke just 1:14 into the first round. On October 20, 2012 Francisco win Alexander Ceballos via Submission. On May 25, 2013, The Croata win Esteban Zuñiga via TKO in first round. On June 27, 2013, Croata signed to Europe's biggest MMA promotion Final Fight Championship. FFC website features a profile of the Croatian/Argentine fighter added to the already strong fight card for the upcoming FFC08. Francisco won in his Final Fight Championship debut by unanimous decision against Darko Banović in the Featherweight division. In March, 2014, Francisco was ranked the No. 7 prospect in the World in the featherweight division. Francisco defeated Patrick Peresa after 54 seconds of the third round by submission in the FFC13. The official public page of Final Fight Championship announced that Francisco will fight Vaso Bakočević in FFC on October 31, 2014, at featherweight. The winner will fight for the FFC Final Fight Championship title in first days of 2015.
Personal life
Francisco is the son of the popular Croatian Brigadier Rodolfo Barrio Saavedra who was very actively involved in the Croatian War of Independence.
