Joshua SciarrinoLast name; “Sure-Reno”

Inspirational Story | Value of Persistence and DeterminationFiled Under: Self Improvement, life

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I’m a casual fan of the UFC but this story is just simply inspirational. The moral of the story is pretty obvious because of my headline: persistence and determination pays off!

I heard a fantastic quote from someone:

If you don’t risk, you don’t get to drink champagne.

Some people take on too much risk which leads to utter failure but every once in a while foolish risk, IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), pays off.

I would never condone or encourage extreme risk like what this man took but his tremendous risk is what makes this story so great.

==Begin Story ==

If anyone needed a huge postfight bonus at UFC 104, it was Pat Barry. The heavyweight out of New Orleans, scored Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night for his victory over Antoni Hardonk. That was good enough for $120,000. Good thing,  Barry needed the infusion of cash in the worst way. He confirmed to MMAScrapsRadio that he was completely down on his luck before the fight, agreeing that he had little to eat in Los Angeles the week of the fight.

“I still had my apartment but if something would’ve happened and the fight had been canceled, I would’ve been evicted six days later.”

Barry, 30, said he didn’t even tell his trainer Duke Roufus for fear that he would think the fighter had the wrong motivation going into the fight. Barry said he didn’t ask anyone for money including his mother:

“I could ask someone but then at the same time, how hard are you going to work for something if everytime you get in trouble somebody catches you? I did something to put myself in this position I have to work my way out of it.”

Listen to Barry talk about his troubles before the fight:

Barry got his $120,000 bonus check last Tuesday. He couldn’t believe it. When he went to deposit the check, his truck wouldn’t start. Barry got a jump and hit the bank sporting a black eye and pink striped shorts.

“I go to the bank, I’m sweaty, I’ve got the black eye, I haven’t shaven in two
days, I’m strung out because I haven’t slept, I have green circles under my eyes
so I’m like ‘Can I have a deposit slip mam?’. She gives it to me, I fill it out
hand it to her. She looks at the deposit slip, then the check, then
looks at me and says ‘Excuse me I’ll be right back.’ Then a manager
comes out, a guy in a suit and says ‘What seems to be the problem?’ I was like
‘Well I have a black eye, that’s the only problem I know this looks
really ridiculous.’ So he asks me for my ID, I hand him my license an
he’s like ‘Your license says Pat Barry, but this check was written to
Patrick Barry.’ So I decided to be funny and tell him Pat Barry is in
my trunk right now. He didnt laugh. So I told him take your time man do whatever
you need to do because I have no where to go and my truck probably wont start
when I go outside so you can just do whatever you need to do. An hour later he
came back and everything was fine, the check was in my bank
account.”

Listen here to the entire Barry interview.

Tip via Middleeasy.com

Source: Yahoo Sports

Crazy right? I thought so too. Bitter sweet story. I hope it encouraged you in your endeavors.