Chris Barnett expects to break Hamdy Abdelwahab with his pressure at UFC 321

Chris Barnett is eager to return to the Octagon after a year off.

Barnett hasn’t fought since last October, when he suffered a TKO loss to Kennedy Nzechukwu, in a fight he got hurt. Since then, he has been rehabbing, and he didn’t realize he was cleared much earlier than this.

“I didn’t know I was cleared,” Barnett said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I was ready, I just didn’t know I was cleared. The fact that I approached it completely differently, I’m already on weight, I’ve been ready. I finally got a message from the UFC staff, and they told me I’ve been cleared, so I then asked for a fight.”

When Barnett makes the walk to the Octagon, he will be facing Hamdy Abdelwahab on the prelims of UFC 321.

Barnett is excited for the matchup, as he believes Abdelwahab is a true fighter who wants to strike. But he is prepared if he decides to go back to his wrestling roots.

“In his fights, we know this, a lot of standup,” Barnett said. “He’s a fighter; he doesn’t want to wrestle, it seems. I think in this fight, he’s going to try and wrestle me; that is something I am working on. If you notice when he takes people down, he doesn’t have jiu-jitsu. We are ready in every aspect in this fight. What we know is going to happen, I got that game plan ready.”

Chris Barnett expects to finish Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC 321

With Chris Barnett being confident in his game plan, he expects his pressure will break Hamdy Abdelwahab at UFC 321.

If his pressure does get to Abdelwahab, Barnett believes he will get a second-round stoppage win.

“It’s where I want it. If I go out there and be lazy, I’ll give him a round or two,” Barnett said. “Or, I go out there and do what I need to do. Every heavyweight can take so much damage, but there is a pressure aspect he doesn’t do well with. This fight plays out how I want it too, and that’s me coming out and not being lazy. It’s going to be a second-round finish, late second-round for this one.”

Should Barnett win, his goal is clear, and that’s to get on the White House card.

“I’m trying to get on that Trump card. Me and Trump have the same birthday, Uncle Dana, listen now. I’m going to get this dub, and let’s talk about it. I’ll squeeze one in before that, but I have to get on that card,” Barnett concluded.