Issue 011

March 2006

By Hywel Teague

Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry is one of the top heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters in the UK. His record stands at 6-2-0, and every single one of his victories has come within the first round by either TKO or submission. Having notched up three wins from three Cage Rage appearances, he recently acquired the Total Combat European Heavyweight title by beating the 6’6” 150kg Frenchman Mohamed Diakite. 

By day, Buzz works shovelling tarmac, and on evenings and weekends he works the doors of the North East of England. For someone with a lifetime of street fighting experience, getting into MMA came about by going to watch Fighters Only’s very own editor in action. 

“I got into professional fighting by going down and watching Ian Freeman down in Milton Keynes. He pulled out to go to America, but we still had our tickets [for the show], and we went down and I enjoyed it. Peter McQueen started training it in Ferryhill where I live, so I went along to train the jiu-jitsu. We’d only been doing it about three months, and Peter organised a grappling tournament. I entered that and ended up winning the heavyweight division and I’d only been doing it three months.”

A natural talent for MMA was evident, as his first few amateur fights showed. “I had an amateur fight down in Portsmouth about five years ago, and won that one with an armbar in about one minute twenty seconds. I had another amateur fight up my way, and beat him with a bar choke in no time.”

The story behind his first professional fight (that doesn’t appear on his record) shows Buzz’s willingness to fight no matter what! “I had a fight down in Wakefield, that was supposed to be full contact, but the guy's manager said “He looks too intimidating!” Him and Peter [McQueen, Buzz’s manager] were arguing, I went over and asked what the matter was, and he said that he thought I’d had more than two amateur fights.”

Due to Buzz’s “intimidating” looks, there was much arguing over rule changes from the other camps manager. “They said OK your guys the grappler and my guys the striker, so we’ll have it with one minute time limit on the ground. I said you can’t do that in a professional fight, but it was the only way we were gonna fight. I said I wanna fight so I’ll fight you whatever rules you want. Anyway, the fight went ahead, when we went in it was full of people banging on the ring and all, and I ended up knocking him out, and he was supposed to be the striker!” 

From humble beginnings, Buzz has come a long way in only a few years of fighting professionally. “Since then I’ve done really really well, I’ve had three fights down on Cage Rage, I’ve won all them in no time, all in the first round.” 

An early loss aside, there is only one blotch on Buzz’s record, and that was against the fearsome wrestler Tengiz Tedoradze. “I had a fight with Tengiz, he’s a good fighter, I had my chance, I caught him with a nice right hook, he went down, but I got too close to him, I should have stood back up and given it to him. I got too close and he grabbed my leg, and we ended up on the floor. I nearly got the rear naked choke, but he’s experienced and I couldn’t get it on properly because we were too close to the ropes. He took over with his wrestling skills, and he ended up getting the finish with ground and pound, which is his game. I had my chance and I learned from it.” 

The question as to whether he would like a rematch is answered without hesitation. “I’m having a rematch! Its on Cage Rage in February for the UK Heavyweight title. I feel confident, really confident. He had his chance, he beat me once, now its my turn. I know what he is about and I know his style. I’ve seen his fights with Tom Blackledge and James Thompson and it’s the same style as what he beat me with. I know his style, and if its comes to me not knocking him out, I’m confident I can beat him with his style.” 

There is no doubt as to how Buzz thinks a rematch will go. “I will knock him out. Definitely. It’ll be a different fight next time. You might see some of my grappling skills next time, but I’m looking to knock him out.” 

With the UK heavyweight scene suffering from a lack of real depth, Buzz is aware what he must do to get good fights, and keen to expand his horizons. “I’m the Total Combat European Heavyweight Champion, and I’ve won on Cage Rage. It’d be nice to get to fight on UFC or Pride. I want to go abroad, and test my skills over there. Originally I started this game to do the mixed martial arts and learn self defence, then I wanted to put what I’d learnt to the test, and its not about testing your opponent, its about testing yourself.” 

Though no spring chicken, age isn’t a factor in Buzz’s mind. “I’m 35 now, 36 next year. I’ve only been doing this just over 5 years. When you look at someone like Randy Couture who is 42 years old, his dedication is awesome. I’ve got a daytime job, I’m working the doors as well. Its hard for me. While I’m still enjoying it, I’ll still do it. When I stop enjoying it, that’s when I’ll stop.” 

“Even in the next three years, I could accomplish everything abroad. I could make a name for myself, I could mix it with the best in the UFC; Buentello, Kevin Jordan, they’re the top guys in the UFC, I could mix it with him. Buentello is very good with his hands, never been tested on the ground, I could mix it with him, and he just had a shot at the title with Arlovski.  It’d be nice to see new blood in there, new faces, and hopefully someone who could entertain the crowd as well. I think I can mix it with the best in the UFC, and I would like to get the chance to do that. Pride as well, either one, but its just about getting to the next level.  I’ve fought at the top level in this country, and I’ve beat some of the best in this country. Now, it’d be nice to go abroad and see what its like over there.” 

There is one big name in the UK that has so far eluded Buzz. “I’d like to fight James Thompson. About three years ago, they offered me to go down to fight James in Bristol. They were only offering £400, now its not about the money, but come on. So we said, no, but we’ll fight you on our show up here and we’ll give you £2000 with all your accommodation and your cornermen and everything. After about four or five phone calls they said no, we’re not fighting because they were working out the contract with Pride.” 

Buzz doesn’t mince words why he thinks Thompson won’t fight him. “Its his contract with Pride. What gets me there is while he had that contract with Pride, he fought Costello. Hes doing well in Pride, but its that fear of getting beat in England and losing everything hes got out there.” 

“Good luck to the lad, he’s doing well, hopefully in the near future me and Thompson will get it on. It’s a good one, it’s a domestic one that everything in this country in MMA wants to see. Wherever it happens, it’ll be a good one, and hopefully it’ll end with a big knockout.” 

Buzz has fought three times on Cage Rage, but he doesn’t think of himself as an exclusive Cage rage fighter. “I don’t just dedicate myself to one show, it is a good one to go down and fight on, the publicity, getting on SKY and being seen by Dana White and the guys from Pride. Its good for them to get the chance to see us, where else in the country would you get to see that?”