Scott "The Bear" Barrett (above) picked up a win over Gabriel Salinas-Jones at XFC 18. Photo by Josh Cross for ProMMAnow.com

Heavyweight prospect Scott “The Bear” Barrett (13-3) added another feather in his winner’s cap with a rather oddly-scored split decision win over Mike Russow training partner, Gabriel Salinas-Jones (5-3), in the co-main event of “XFC 18: Music City Mayhem,” which was held last Friday night in Nashville, Tenn., and aired live on HDNet.

Two judges scored the bout 30-27 for Barrett, while one judge scored it for Salinas-Jones 29-28. Most people we talked with seemed shocked that a judge could have seen any round going to Salinas-Jones. ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) reporter Gary Thomas caught up with Barrett after the bout and “The Bear” gave his take on the peculiar scorecards:

“Apparently somebody in Tennessee don’t like me. I don’t know man. You got two judges with a unanimous victory, then one guy with a 28-27 loss? I could understand I guess if the other guy saw it a little different too, but everybody else saw a clear victory, then the other guy threw out some weird numbers. Maybe he can’t add right, I don’t know.”

As far as what’s next for Barrett, he said he is not one to call anyone out, but he did drop one possible name, a UFC veteran he was supposed to fight once in the past:

“I want to fight anybody man. I’ll fight whoever. I know that Chase Gormley guy, I heard he ran his mouth a little bit. He said there’s nobody in the XFC that can hang with him. I’d like to fight who wants to fight me. I’m never going to call out anybody. This sport is full of one hit wonders. I could fight a nobody tomorrow and get knocked out. I’m never going to talk trash. That’s one reason I wanted this win so bad. I don’t know if ya’ll read interviews but Gabe said he was gonna knock me out, go to some bar and have a beer after he embarrassed me on TV. I don’t talk. I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me. I’ll sign the contract and I’m ready to go.”

Barrett and Chase Gormley (8-4) were originally supposed to fight in the co-main event at XFC 14 last October but Gormley ended up taking a fight on short notice and getting knocked out just a few weeks prior and was therefore pulled from the card.

Since then Gormley picked up a unanimous decision win over Brandon Sayles at XFC 16 in February, so with he and Barrett now both coming off wins, this match-up could make sense once again. How about it Prisco?

Barrett went on to say he just wants to continue to get better. He feels he still has a lot to learn and is getting ready to go help his buddy, fellow heavyweight Todd Duffee, get ready for a fight, then after that he hopes to start preparing for his own next bout.

With 13 wins on his record, 10 coming by way of knockout, and nine in the first round, Scott “The Bear” Barrett is a name you want to keep your eye on. The guy is humble, has a great personality, and has the potential to go far in the sport. Fight fans can follow Scott on Twitter at @ScottBearHCG.

Editor’s Note: If this whole fighting thing doesn’t work out for Gabriel Salinas-Jones, he just might have a future as a country singer. We had the unique privilege of riding the hotel shuttle with Mr. Salinas-Jones in Nashville and the man was not shy about singing for the whole van. He even had the cowboy hat to match.

Check out more XFC 18 post-fight interviews and stay tuned for many more to come. Also, see our photo gallery from the event, as well as our complete play-by-play commentary on each bout.

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