Jan 29 TRIPLE CROWN FIGHTER SIGNS TOP WINNIPEG PROSPECT JUSTIN BARNARD

It’s not everyday that you get a message from top ranked Black Belt Rodrigo Munduruca asking if you can take a look at one of his guys, but that’s exactly what Triple Crown Fighter top Agent Jake Hirsch got a few weeks ago. “I’ve met Rodrigo a few times at some MFC shows and did a Sinister sponsor for him when he went to the World’s in Switzerland. I definitely know the quality of guys he puts out so I knew I was going to be checking out someone special”.

That “someone special” turned out be undefeated Winnipeg prospect Justin Barnard, a heavy handed striker with a very impressive ground game.  Barnard has a couple of fights that aren’t on his record, where he’s listed as 5-0.  Even with an impressive resume like that, Barnard still remains humble as to what goals he has in 2010, “I would like to improve all areas of my fight game, particularly my strength and conditioning this year”.

Barnard has fought the majority of his career in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the well known promotion, Canadian Fighting Championship where he’s battled the likes of Tim “the Chin” Tamaki.  Fighting and training in Winnipeg has been a great experience for Barnard but he would also like to one day compete on some other shows out of his own hometown.  “I think it would be a bit weird not to have the roar of the hometown behind me, but it would also give me a good opportunity to see how I handle being in someone else’s backyard. I’m confident though. I train at Team Canada MMA and my primary coaches are Rodrigo Munduruca, who handles the grappling training and Giuseppe DeNatale who takes care of the striking”.

Being a free agent in the mixed martial arts game can be a bother at times so Barnard was happy to finally sign with Triple Crown Fighter, “I’m relieved to have an experienced agency looking after my best interests as well as excited for the possibilities and opportunities that are sure to follow” says, Barnard.  Hirsch agrees, “When I got on the phone with Justin we got along great and shared the same vision for where he wanted to go with his career. I think having a great team like he does out in Winnipeg is testament to who he is today...so I’m happy to see him continue the success that has got him this far.  There’s no doubt in my mind that Justin is on his way to the top of the middleweight division and to have Munduruca and DeNatale in his corner is the cornerstone to that success”.

Triple Crown Fighter has been recruiting top talent for years and recently merged with UNIDO Sports Management in Calgary, Alberta where Hirsch took on the role of day to day operations. “We’ve made it a point to go out and recruit some of Canada’s top talent like Cory MacDonald, Nathan Gunn, Jason Heit and Claude Patrick so adding Justin to our roster made perfect sense.  Our American roster is equally impressive with Bryan Baker, Jesse Juarez and Jason High...so I think our roster speaks for itself”.

Look for Barnard to jump into action on February 26^th on the Canadian Fighting Championships 4^th show at the Winnipeg Convention Centre.  Barnard adds, “Shout out to the organization which has given me the most opportunities to fight, that’s the CFC, or Canadian Fighting Championship, the best MMA promotion in Canada. Also a shout out to Jake Hirsch and all the members of his team! Thanks for taking interest in me, and I’m pumped to see what the future holds.”