Luke Barnatt is an English mixed martial artist who fought as a Middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was a member of FX's, and has also competed for BAMMA and UCMMA in England. 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. Barnatt competes in the middleweight division of the Absolute Championship Berkut.
Background
Barnatt was born in Redbridge, Essex and moved to Islington at the age of one and then Chelmsford at the age of ten. At the age of 17, Barnatt would move to Peterborough. 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 but only achieved the rank of yellow belt before giving it up. Later on, Barnatt was introduced to wrestling by professional mixed martial arts fighter Jack Mason at Tsunami Shooters MMA.
Barnatt had a record of 5-0 before being selected as a member of 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 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.
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. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Barnatt faced Andrew Craig on 26 October 2013 at. He 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 at UFC Fight Night 37. He won the fight via TKO due to strikes in the first round. Barnatt faced Sean Strickland on 31 May 2014 at UFC Fight Night 41. Barnatt lost the fight by a split decision. Barnatt faced Roger Narvaez on 22 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 57. He lost the fight via split decision. Barnatt was expected to face Clint Hester on 4 April 2015 at UFC Fight Night 63. 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 on 16 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 66. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.
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 Real Xtreme Fighting 25. 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.
