- 5 hours ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:10KONIEC
00:30Wielkie prawa, podróż podróżu podróżu podróżu.
00:33One of the most vicious knockouts I think I've ever seen.
00:36...but his inner turmoil proves even more explosive and dangerous.
00:40Perroni!
00:40Oh, look at Perroni!
00:41He's coming up!
00:42Oh!
00:43He would just freak out.
00:45Fucking relax, Phil!
00:46...decades of taking abuse in the cage.
00:49And it's all over! It's all over!
00:51I'm like, dude, you're gonna have no brain left.
00:54...seem to fuel the demons running loose inside his head.
00:57He would lose control of it and then have trouble kind of reeling it back in.
01:01I knew Phil was very fucking mean with his girlfriend.
01:06Until Phil's loss of control while in Mexico reportedly causes a woman to lose her life.
01:12Perroni's in jail for allegedly murder.
01:15He apparently had killed his girlfriend.
01:17I couldn't believe what I was reading.
01:18As a fighter, you know how dangerous you are.
01:22Why? Like, why?
01:24I don't think the police or anybody knew what was going on.
01:28But they didn't understand me.
01:29But I didn't kill my girlfriend. I didn't do it.
01:53It's hard to do this. Like, right now, it's hard.
01:57I'm gonna...I'm gonna...I'm gonna fly with a phone if I got permission.
02:00Are you on a cell phone, or what are you on?
02:03No, no, no. I can't say.
02:05I've been in prison in Copeak, Mexico.
02:08I'm sure my lawyers will...I appreciate me doing this interview.
02:15People in this episode, because you were such a good friend, worried a bit that you went too far.
02:21And maybe hurt yourself in a way that kind of, uh, impacted...
02:25But how did they send me money? I was just a good friend.
02:27I'm in a fucking Mexican prison, bro.
02:30Come on, man.
02:32You're only giving me some money. You're just fucking worried about me.
02:36In this game, there's not too many happy endings.
02:40It ends when you least expect it.
02:44It's devastating.
02:46And I think with Phil, there was never a plan B.
02:49It was, I'm going to be a superstar and a champion, and there is no other alternative.
02:55There's no option.
02:56Phil was very unhinged.
02:58He was dangerous to be around.
03:00He was a liability to himself and others.
03:02And I was afraid that something bad was going to happen.
03:06Asking me, like, did I think he'd make it as a fighter?
03:10I absolutely did.
03:12Did I think he'd make it as a human?
03:15I always had the question mark.
03:17Stop the fight! Phil Barone is victorious!
03:21For Phil Barone, the battle between fighting as a livelihood
03:25and fighting as a lifestyle begins in his hometown outside New York City.
03:30As a young kid, Phil always wanted to fight.
03:32And he would get into fights with people.
03:35It's hard for me to say why exactly he felt the need to fight or what he was angry at.
03:41I'm Christy Barone, Philip Barone's younger sister.
03:44We technically lived in Massapego Park.
03:46It's a suburb on Long Island, Nassau County.
03:50Just regular working class town.
03:54Growing up, a shared love of the most kid-friendly combat sport
03:58becomes a way for the siblings to bond.
04:01Back then, like, wrestling was huge.
04:04It's now time for the Royal Rumble!
04:10We couldn't wait for, like, the Royal Rumble to come on.
04:13This place is thunderous, Jess! I can't hear myself!
04:17We would watch them. We would imitate them.
04:20He was Ultimate Warrior. I was Hulk Hogan.
04:23Look at the strength! Look at the muscles!
04:26We would be jumping off the couches.
04:29We would just have so much fun.
04:31I could remember. He said, I'm gonna be like that.
04:34I'm gonna be a fighter. I'm gonna be famous.
04:39By high school, Phil's still nurturing his two passions,
04:42fighting on a wrestling mat and just plain fighting.
04:47When I met him, he was always getting into fights.
04:50In wrestling, there'd be, like, eight mats
04:52and, like, eight wrestling matches going on,
04:53and you could hear some commotion going on
04:56on the side over there, and you'd look, and it's Phil scrapping.
04:59I guess that's why I liked him, because he was a tough kid.
05:02My name's Jay Aran. I'm a former UFC fighter,
05:05former International Fight League world champion
05:08and childhood friend of Phil Barone.
05:12I remember when we were in ninth grade,
05:14we were close in weight, and then two years later,
05:16he's in 11th grade, and he's, like, jacked to the kills.
05:19Crazy.
05:20Was he juicing back then?
05:22I believe so. I didn't, you know, again,
05:25I wasn't in the room with him, but he blew up real fast.
05:28He was one of the top wrestlers at the time in Nassau County,
05:32as I was.
05:34Phil and Jay enrolled together
05:36at Long Island's Nassau Community College,
05:38where they become competitive amateur wrestlers
05:41at the national level.
05:42Phil also enters some bodybuilding competitions,
05:45while looking for more ways to scratch the fighting itch.
05:49He was doing all types of combat sports,
05:52boxing, tough man contests.
05:54He was already competing.
05:56Oh, I like this.
05:57The tough man contest gives novice fighters
06:00a chance to try their luck in the ring,
06:02and Phil's 4-0 record as an amateur boxer
06:05lands him a spot in the competition.
06:07In a nationally televised match,
06:09his skills in the ring are undeniable.
06:12Out!
06:12Oh!
06:15But when Phil loses his scheduled semi-final fight,
06:18the 24-year-old turns to his other passion,
06:21unscheduled fighting.
06:23Oh, look at Barone!
06:25He's coming out!
06:25Oh!
06:28That was my come-and-gown party.
06:30You know, I was fighting on TV.
06:31I had to separate myself from everybody else.
06:34I was building my persona.
06:36He liked, like, brash fighters
06:38and guys that talk shit and show boaters,
06:40and I think he played with that.
06:42Wow!
06:43That's where I realized the game worked.
06:46Everybody hated me,
06:47but everybody was talking about me.
06:49Including the UFC's new president, Dana White,
06:52who's looking for fighters
06:54to jumpstart a business on life support.
06:56We want to make it more fan-friendly,
06:58we want to get the crowd involved in it,
07:00and we want to bring back
07:01the best fighters in the world.
07:03White and his partners,
07:04Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta,
07:06bought the flailing MMA promotion
07:08in February of 2001
07:09and need to make a splash
07:11with their premier event
07:12at Donald Trump's Taj Mahal Casino
07:14in Atlantic City.
07:16Phil gets added to the card.
07:20Phil Maroney!
07:22Facing off against Muay Thai phenom
07:25Curtis Stout.
07:26Phil is making his UFC debut,
07:28not that far from his hometown.
07:31People who were just, like, from Massapequa,
07:34like, Long Island wanted to go
07:36because someone from their, you know,
07:38area was fighting,
07:39and this was huge.
07:40That was my first fight at the UFC.
07:42I mean, I need to win.
07:44I need to win.
07:45The talking is over.
07:47The walking will begin.
07:49Curtis Stout, Phil Barone.
07:51It's a remarkable debut for the young fighter.
07:54And Barone continues to punch.
07:57Phil repeatedly takes Stout down,
08:00punishing him with a ferocious ground-and-pound attack.
08:03It was a fast fight.
08:05He was a tough hitter.
08:06One of the best.
08:08Phil wins his first UFC bout
08:10by unanimous decision.
08:13Phil Barone!
08:16I was screaming and screaming.
08:19I had no voice left.
08:20And I remember just looking behind me
08:22and looking up and going,
08:23oh, my God.
08:25I can't believe it.
08:26This is it.
08:27Disappointed you didn't get the knockout?
08:29Yeah.
08:30I like to knock people out for the fans.
08:34But months later, at UFC 34 in Vegas...
08:38Let's get it on!
08:39Oh, I like it.
08:40Phil's brief time as an undefeated UFC fighter...
08:44Leroni's in a bad position at this time.
08:46...ends with a loss to Olympic wrestler Matt Lindland.
08:51It takes just two fights for Phil's fellow fighters
08:54to learn how his mental state can affect his performance...
08:57in and out of the cage.
09:01Phil just had an edge about him, period.
09:03Didn't matter if it was another fighter or a friend.
09:06I'm Josh Thompson,
09:07the former Strikeforce world champion.
09:09One of the pioneers of the sport of MMA.
09:12There was a time we were sparring,
09:14and he was getting ready for a fight
09:16against a guy who moved a lot.
09:17When I went in to spar with him,
09:19and he's calling me a pussy,
09:20he's like, you won't stand with me.
09:22And I'm like,
09:22your guy that you're fighting
09:24is not gonna fight you that way.
09:26You gotta get to me.
09:27And finally, he throws the gloves off,
09:29and just rushes at me.
09:31When we just start throwing down,
09:33people jump in the ring, separate us.
09:35Coach is telling us,
09:36go cool off, take a shower, get changed.
09:40Later, Phil's like, hey man, I'm sorry.
09:42I'm like, yeah, I get it, man.
09:43No worries.
09:44But that to me was one of the most telltale signs
09:47of like Phil was somebody that Sanger got the better of him.
09:51But can he keep it together to earn a much needed victory?
09:56With many UFC careers fizzling after an early spark,
10:01Phil enters the cage at UFC 39
10:04in Uncasville, Connecticut,
10:06determined to be unforgettable,
10:08sporting a new look and nickname.
10:10The New York Palace!
10:14I'm seeing my brother walk out
10:16with his robe and the music and dancing.
10:19We were like, oh my God.
10:22I do remember watching him.
10:24I thought to myself, this is lame.
10:26Like, we're here to fight.
10:28We didn't quite wrap our heads around the fact
10:31that this was the entertainment business.
10:32And you can see it now, where the sport is.
10:34He was ahead of his time.
10:36I was fucking cheering him on, like, let's go, you know?
10:39I felt like that was a great character.
10:41New York badass.
10:42Come on, man.
10:42I love pro wrestling.
10:44And, uh, that's what I should've wanted.
10:46That's what I should've did.
10:47But, when I went the UFC route,
10:50I wanted to be the toughest guy in the world.
10:53The fight itself,
10:54against 28-year-old Minnesotan Dave Mene,
10:57shows just how tough Phil can be in the cage.
11:01And here we go!
11:02Phil came right across the cage
11:03and touched him with some big shots,
11:05and Dave got rocked.
11:07His body was against the fence,
11:09and Phil just unleashed a barrage of punches.
11:11Finish it!
11:12Hit it's over!
11:13Hit it's all over!
11:14Those punches were coming so fast,
11:16it was holding Dave Mene up.
11:1710, 12, 15 shots,
11:19all within a five-second period.
11:22One of the most vicious knockouts
11:23I think I've ever seen.
11:25I jumped on top of the cage.
11:27I told everyone I'm the best ever.
11:31Because that night I was.
11:33I would've beat anybody that night.
11:35I'm the best ever.
11:36You know, it was classic.
11:38He was coming up.
11:39He was on a hot streak.
11:40Hey, Mom!
11:41Oh, my!
11:43He had that charisma.
11:44Good-looking dude.
11:46He'll go out and finish guys in exciting fights.
11:49Sharp on the mic.
11:50He could talk.
11:51Line him up, I'm gonna knock him down.
11:52Dana White liked that.
11:54He's, like, looking at this guy like,
11:55oh, I could market this.
11:56We could put some money behind this guy,
11:58and he could sell tickets.
11:59Put butts in the seat.
12:01For us, at the time of MMA,
12:04we needed somebody like him,
12:05because we needed the bad guy.
12:08I was just saying things that nobody was saying.
12:10I was having fun with it.
12:11You've been working with some boxers.
12:13It shows.
12:14Hey, hey, hey, hey.
12:15Talk to me, man.
12:15Relax, relax.
12:16No one wants to hear what you gotta say.
12:17I was the first one doing it.
12:18I was the only one doing it.
12:20He was like the Conor McGregor before the Conor McGregor.
12:23After the Dave Monet fight, Phil was an automatic star.
12:27He was on cover of magazines.
12:29There was billboards of him in Vegas.
12:31He was in the video game.
12:33The New York Badass.
12:37And he was on the cover.
12:39I mean, it was incredible.
12:42But soon, the self-proclaimed New York Badass begins,
12:46as they say in his first love, professional wrestling,
12:48to live his gimmick.
12:51And that will lead to a still ongoing tragedy.
12:55I think maybe Phil had a little more crazy than most of us do.
12:58Whoa!
12:59There it is!
12:59There it is!
13:00He was a little more untethered.
13:02He would lose control of it
13:03and then have trouble kind of reeling it back in.
13:06Fucking relax, Phil!
13:07And that's a recipe for disaster.
13:09Yeah, Peroni's in trouble.
13:10Yeah, he's two things, Austin.
13:19In less than two years, Phil Baroni has gone from an unknown guy from Massapequa
13:25who likes to fight, to an up-and-comer in the UFC nicknamed the New York Badass.
13:31I always went for it.
13:33I was balls to the wall.
13:34I was balls to the wall.
13:34I was balls to the knockout.
13:36Nobody fell.
13:37Phil Baroni is victorious!
13:41I think what people don't realize,
13:43he was on the cover of these magazines and on billboards,
13:46but he didn't have any money.
13:47So I think that was hard.
13:50That was hard for him.
13:51No, not Mercedes.
13:53That's what the New York Badass should be driving.
13:55But no.
13:55No.
13:56Badass.
13:57He gets banged up doing something.
14:00Fucking joke.
14:02While Phil navigates financial frustrations with his newfound stardom in the UFC,
14:07his longtime girlfriend Michelle rewards him with some stability.
14:11He also picks up admirers in the fight world, including a young MMA promoter in Hawaii.
14:18When I first met Phil, I think I met the character.
14:21I met the New York Badass.
14:23But that actually faded pretty quickly.
14:26We ended up developing a pretty good friendship.
14:30My name is Rich Chow.
14:32I've been in the fight business for over 20 years,
14:34most notably as a matchmaker.
14:37Phil was a major part of making some really big introductions, opening doors for me.
14:44I recall just going with Phil to the UFC offices, going to meet Dana.
14:49And I could tell very early on that Dana was a big fan of Phil's.
14:53And I think they really wanted him to succeed.
14:56Phil had kind of a rocky start in the UFC.
14:59Nobody was happier than me to see that he got his head together as much as Phil possibly can.
15:04And he just had to do his part and win the big one.
15:10But first, Phil has to beat one of his chief rivals.
15:13In 2003 at UFC 41, he's back in Atlantic City battling the fighter that delivered Phil his first UFC loss.
15:22I'm Matt Lindland.
15:23I was an Olympic silver medalist in Sydney games in 2000.
15:27I fought Phil Barone two times.
15:29Oh, I knew that kid had heavy hands.
15:31He got one in on me that really rang my bell.
15:38Phil had him hurt, but he just couldn't finish him.
15:40He ran out of gas.
15:41Looking for the takedown.
15:43And Lindland takes him down.
15:45I was landing vicious elbows, big punches.
15:48I really did a lot of damage.
15:54When a battered and bruised Phil fails to win the decision.
15:57The winner, Matt Lindland.
16:02It's everyone close to him that ends up losing.
16:06When things didn't go the way they were supposed to, Phil had these tremendous mood swings.
16:12At times, he would just freak out.
16:15Michelle was there as well.
16:16She definitely took the brunt of it.
16:18And then that would pass and he'd go and do something really nice.
16:22Hey, let me take you out to dinner.
16:24We would just pretend like it didn't happen.
16:25But that was kind of the cycle of being around him.
16:31But the UFC remains in the Phil Barone business.
16:35In November of 2003, at UFC 45, Dana White gives Phil another shot.
16:41This time against veteran fighter Evan Tanner.
16:49But in the first round.
16:53It looks like Tanner has scored a TKO.
16:56But Phil won't accept defeat.
16:59The ref stopped it.
17:01And Phil started swinging at the referee at the time.
17:03And I recall Dana's pulling him aside, calming him down, knowing this is bad.
17:07Fucking relax, Phil! Jesus Christ, relax!
17:11Phil later claims the referee had made a mistake.
17:14I wanted to continue.
17:15I was trying to express to the referee I wanted to continue.
17:18He took it the wrong way and stopped the fight.
17:20The UFC backs their ref by suspending Phil from the cage for four months.
17:27But sensing the financial potential in a rematch, Dana books Phil to fight Tanner again, just a few months after
17:35Phil's suspension is lifted.
17:40This time, Phil makes it three rounds before getting beat again.
17:45Evan Tanner is going to win this matchup against Phil Barone.
17:52We all wanted this so bad for him.
17:54It broke my heart every time he couldn't win those big ones.
17:58Then he loses a not-so-big one against 22-year-old newcomer Pete Sell.
18:07And the New York badass is officially released by the UFC.
18:11Wow!
18:14Phil had a relationship with Dana White.
18:16He felt like he was a pioneer of the sport.
18:18So it really affected him when he got released.
18:21My name's Ken Pavia, and I was Phil Barone's agent for the majority of his career.
18:26The UFC said they were doing it to make sure Phil didn't get hurt,
18:28because he was taking a lot of abuse in his fights.
18:30What they didn't see was the abuse he was taking in the gym on top of it.
18:35Most MMA fighters at that level spar and train at 50 to 70 percent.
18:40And when Phil sparred, he went 110.
18:43When I was in the gym at a streetlight, I didn't want to lose.
18:46I wanted to win every position.
18:49The problem is that when you're sparring with people at that level, they have the ability to give it back
18:53to you.
18:53So as a result, a lot of what happened to Phil happened in the gym.
18:58And getting his bell run, he just had such an ego.
19:01And it couldn't let somebody get the better of him.
19:04The physical abuse to Phil's body doesn't just happen in the gym.
19:09When he was depressed, he'd drink too much, he'd binge eat.
19:13But I saw him for the potential, who he was, and I believed in him at the time.
19:18So do some of his fellow fighters, including an MMA legend who runs into Phil shortly after the surprising loss
19:25to Pete Sell.
19:27Phil trained pretty much at every gym there is out there in Vegas, basically because he got kicked out of
19:32everyone.
19:33Nobody would put up with his shit, and basically he wasn't welcome anywhere.
19:38Hi, I'm Mark the Hammer Coleman.
19:41I was UFC heavyweight champion, Pride Grand Prix champion, and I met Phil, the New York badass brony, through the
19:48fighting days.
19:50So at the time, he happened to be welcoming Mark Lehman's gym, and I happened to be training there.
19:56He was just sitting at the table, doing nothing the whole practice.
20:00So he said, how was it going there?
20:03He's like, it's horrible.
20:05Life sucks.
20:06The UFC cut me.
20:08I go, well, what are you doing just sitting here moping?
20:11You know what I mean?
20:11I said, I can get you a fight over there in Japan.
20:14That's how it started with me and him.
20:17Phil was a reclamation project.
20:19I knew that we could make him a champion again.
20:21We'd give him some wins, and that's why we went to Japan to try to do that.
20:25Getting Phil added to Japan's Pride Fighting Championships proves to be the easy part.
20:33The challenge is integrating the self-proclaimed badass from New York into Hammer House, Mark Coleman's team of fighters.
20:41I found out real quick, he was a tough, tough character.
20:46I'm a hands-on type coach, so I do a lot of yelling.
20:50So first day, he looked up and said, do you ever shut the fuck up?
20:56He goes, shut up.
20:58This guy was a prick.
21:02Just angry, mean, ungrateful.
21:05I had people at the gym call up to me, and they're like, you know, why do you put up
21:08with that shit?
21:09I'm like, I don't give a shit.
21:11It's business, man.
21:13I'm going to get this guy ready.
21:15Whoa!
21:15He's in a bar, just swinging for the...
21:18Oh, nice!
21:19But he put it together, and he pulled off one hell of a Rocky-style type fight.
21:25It's like a Rocky movie now.
21:27Phil was really prepared for that fight, and went out there, and they just had a war.
21:31The fans screaming!
21:33The fans loved it, and they kind of made Phil a legend in Japan.
21:37It sort of rejuvenated his career.
21:38Barone!
21:39Finally, middleman goes down!
21:41There's a kick!
21:42Another kick!
21:43Another kick!
21:44Another kick!
21:44All of a sudden, Phil Barone is pretty happy again with life.
21:49You want to go toe-to-toe with me, chimp-a-chin, punch-a-punch, you're fucking dead.
21:54See that?
21:55You're fucking dead.
21:56But it didn't last long.
21:59By the next day they got around there, he's already bitching and complaining, and feeling like he's the man.
22:06You know what I mean?
22:06He's the man now.
22:07But you're just another man.
22:10You're not the man, Phil.
22:13Phil is soon informed that he's also just another man to the woman he's living with back home in Las
22:18Vegas.
22:20When Phil fought in Pride, his girlfriend at the time told him,
22:23I sold everything.
22:24I'm leaving you.
22:25I'm done with you.
22:27Pride Fighting Championships is also done.
22:31Following an investigation into its connection to organized crime, Pride loses its main broadcaster.
22:37So Phil is forced to return to the much less hospitable U.S.
22:43We sat down in a hotel lobby, and I watched him meet about literally 10 ice cream sandwiches in a
22:49row.
22:50I go, what are you doing?
22:51And he says, I'm depressed.
22:52He had an eating issue, and he wasn't himself.
22:57But there's a new MMA player back home.
23:01American kickboxing organization Strikeforce has recently expanded into mixed martial arts.
23:07Good knee, good knee.
23:08The promotion needs an exciting challenger to fight one of MMA's legendary stars.
23:14Frank, the legend of Shamrock!
23:20There was some buzz from Strikeforce to have Phil Barone and Frank Shamrock fight.
23:25All fighters require their own source of motivation.
23:28Fueling Frank Shamrock and Phil Barone, mutual hatred.
23:34Beating Shamrock is Phil's most likely road back to the UFC.
23:38But, despite his recent successes in Japan, the Barone camp is worried Phil may not be the fighter he once
23:45was.
23:45I definitely started noticing some signs that something was going on with my brother's health.
23:51More aggression than normal.
23:53Mood swings happen more often.
23:56Slurring of the speech.
23:57I'm coming.
23:58Guns are blazing, you know, in front of Bell.
24:00I'm gonna push the fucking pace on him, and I'm gonna knock him the fuck out.
24:04When I saw him sparring, he was getting hit with shots that he shouldn't get hit with.
24:10And I'm like, dude, you're gonna have no brain left.
24:13It's gonna be mush.
24:14As Phil prepares to step into the cage for the fight of his life,
24:19the pressure to win pushes him to put that life in jeopardy.
24:24Oh, it's good!
24:25It's a new goal!
24:26It's a new goal!
24:28It's a new goal!
24:28Oh, my God!
24:33Make no mistakes.
24:35This one is personal.
24:38Two years after getting cut by the UFC,
24:4031-year-old Phil Barone is getting a shot to silence his doubters in a sold-out pay-per-view
24:46fight against MMA legend Frank Shamrock.
24:51I know you listen to this, brother.
24:52I'm gonna beat the fuck out of you for five rounds.
24:54It was the biggest fight in the sport that's done.
24:57Frank Shamrock was the unscreened, unscreened champion coming out of retirement.
25:01And I was the young, hot, hot shot who rebounded in Japan.
25:06He knew that he could ride his own ticket for the rest of his fighting career with a win over
25:11Frank Shamrock.
25:12I grew up watching Frank Shamrock.
25:14I know him better than he does, better than his wife.
25:17Outside of the cage, Phil's personal life also appears to be back on track.
25:23He stayed with me for a couple years, and then that's when he met his wife.
25:27And then they got married, and I was in the wedding for that.
25:31Now, as Phil prepares to take on Shamrock, fellow fighter Josh Thompson is taking over Phil's training.
25:38Sparring on Mondays, wrestling on Tuesdays, sparring on Wednesdays.
25:42We got him into a routine which other gyms couldn't do.
25:46But, like with Mark Coleman in Japan, Phil doesn't want to follow the routine Josh believes he needs.
25:54Phil don't like authority, or somebody telling you, hey man, do this, do that.
25:58And, you know, he didn't do well with that.
26:00So, Phil's open to Jay's suggestion.
26:02He switched to Extreme Couture, a new gym in Las Vegas run by an MMA superstar.
26:09I'm Randy Couture, six-time MMA champion, and long-time training partner and friend, Phil Barone.
26:16Jay comes to me, he's like, hey man, Phil Barone really wants to train with us.
26:20I said, man, I've heard a lot of negative stuff about Phil, and I don't want any problems here.
26:25We're just opening this place.
26:26Randy trusts me like a brother.
26:28Listen, this guy's good. He ain't gonna cause a problem here.
26:31He's my dude. I grew up with him.
26:34So, Phil came in, we sat down in the office, and I said, man, I know you want to be
26:37part of the gym.
26:38I'll let you train here, but if there's any drama at all, you're gone.
26:42That was it. He came through.
26:44Why did he go to Randy?
26:45No idea.
26:47When you break up your camps, you don't have a routine.
26:50It felt like, to us, he couldn't get out of his own way.
26:52And it was very difficult for me to watch him do this.
26:58A month before the Shamrock fight, Phil publicly erupts again, putting more than just his title shot in jeopardy.
27:05I was on a promo tour, and it was in Miami, and he was with his wife in South Beach.
27:11The stress was so big and so intense, he was yelling at her.
27:14And two really big gang members walked by and said something to her, like, don't yell at your woman.
27:20And Phil just snapped, and he jumped over and beat the living daylights out of these two gang members.
27:25And he got arrested for it.
27:26The charges were eventually dropped, but I'm thinking that, are we doing the right thing?
27:30He's gonna snap. He's in a dangerous place right now.
27:33But there's a bigger, unseen danger lurking inside Phil that could, perhaps should, immediately end his career in MMA.
27:42About a week out from the fight, Phil had to do the medicals, and they required a brain scan, and
27:50the doctor didn't clear him.
27:51They said he was not medically fit to fight MMA because of scarring, calcification, and spots on his brain.
27:59I told him, we need to take a step back and figure this out and get some professional help.
28:04He said, there's absolutely no way I'm not fighting Shamrock.
28:07This is the moment that I've waited for in my entire life, and it didn't take no for an answer.
28:12He was gonna get all kinds of testing and all kinds of work done after the fact, and treat it,
28:17and be serious about it.
28:18We were there probably for a good hour, and by the time we left, the doctor signed off.
28:25Bill Barone!
28:28Phil comes up the ramp, he just had this aura and this presence about him.
28:32This guy loves the crowd!
28:35And I just remember seeing that live, just thinking, wow, this might be his night.
28:39Frank Shamrock!
28:40But Frank Shamrock sees things differently.
28:43There's a new goal!
28:45Oh my God!
28:47In the first round, Frank lends a lot of really clean blows.
28:51Just really hurt Phil and put him on ice skates, he was wobbling.
28:54It's that Mike Tyson saying, everyone's got a plan until you get hit.
28:57And that's kind of where Phil was at.
28:59Push it by Samra!
29:00Getting more and more confident!
29:02At the end of the fight, Frank got Phil in a choke hold, and Phil was trying to punch him,
29:07and then went unconscious.
29:08There's a smile on Shamrock's face!
29:11And, oh!
29:12We ran over to him and he opened his eyes and said, what happened?
29:15Please tell me he choked me out and didn't knock me out.
29:19He said, yeah, he choked you out.
29:21I'd never tapped out. My whole career, I'd never tapped out.
29:24I would take a lick in to keep on thinking, never say die.
29:28Phil just has a huge ego, and he's the badass, and the badass doesn't get knocked out.
29:34I'd seen that mentality before, which I didn't agree with.
29:38If I go unconscious, I go unconscious, but I'm not going to tap, I'm going to keep fighting this.
29:42That's how you get hurt.
29:44Whatever he fought in the fight, you know, I'm not going to make excuses on it.
29:48He fought a good fight, you know, he's as advertised.
29:52Had he won that fight, I think the story of his career would have been a lot different.
29:56Everything would have been different.
29:59Instead, the Shamrock fight haunts Phil for years, further tormenting his already troubled mind.
30:07I stayed at his house probably 50 times after this fight, and every single night I go to bed with
30:12him at the seat of the couch, watching the fight.
30:15He watched it every night of his life, and he never got over it. It ruined him.
30:21I should do what's to fight. I was the better fighter. Couldn't believe what was to fight.
30:26I couldn't believe what was to fight.
30:32As for Phil's promise to take the brain scan seriously and treat the problem after the Shamrock fight,
30:38instead, Phil continues fighting for years, hoping for another shot at the title.
30:46But the road back to the cage is littered with the bridges he burns along the way.
30:51The road is in big trouble!
30:53He actually owed me money from some sponsors, and we parted the company because he didn't want to pay the
30:57money.
30:58I think at this stage, pretty much everybody distanced himself from Phil.
31:03He would sign fights without telling anybody, and be like, yeah, I'm fighting in three weeks.
31:06Who are you fighting? I don't know, some bum. He didn't care.
31:10Fuck it!
31:11I said, okay, we're not trying to be the best anymore. We're just trying to make a living.
31:15Oh, the other guy's down! And he's, I think he's broken his leg.
31:20In a series of emotional interviews, Phil seems all too aware that his best days are behind him.
31:27I don't want to be the guy that's trying to, uh, hold on to, uh, maybe, uh, what's not there.
31:34You're not done, right?
31:36Man, what else want me to do? That's what I am, that's who I am, you know?
31:40No, I'm not, no, I'm not done.
31:42See me again, I'm sure. See me again.
31:45I didn't want to see him brain dead.
31:47We had a conversation, I told him, you know, bro, like, you shouldn't be fighting.
31:53I just kept it real, like, bro, it's time.
31:57And that was one of the last conversations I had with him.
32:00In his final fights, Phil's losses aren't just disappointing.
32:04They're disturbing to watch.
32:06And that was a good shot that time by Levin.
32:08And it's all over, well over.
32:12In 2019, a 43-year-old Phil Barone finally retires from professional fighting.
32:17As the world slips into COVID, Phil slides into oblivion.
32:22His friends and family struggled to learn his whereabouts.
32:26He was traveling around with no money, with no home.
32:30I did not like the way he looked.
32:32I heard rumors like he was using drugs and he was drinking.
32:37I saw a video of him with a cigarette in his hand and I couldn't even believe it.
32:40He never smoked in his life.
32:41So I'm like, something's not right.
32:44I can't remember like the month of the day or whatever, but I can just remember that I saw it
32:49on the news that Phil had been arrested in Mexico.
32:53Former USC middleweight Phil Barone has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in San Pancho, Mexico.
32:59He apparently had killed his girlfriend.
33:08From the outset, a right hand.
33:11For years, Phil Barone continued to operate on the fringes of the fight world.
33:19Even as his marriage fell apart and his addiction issues worsened.
33:26But after living off the grid in the waning days of 2022, Phil's accused of something that staggers his sister.
33:35I got a phone call from his ex-wife telling me that she has very bad news about my brother.
33:43And I saw articles stating that my brother was arrested.
33:48Former UFC fighter Phil Barone is in custody in Mexico for allegedly murdering his girlfriend.
33:54I immediately fell to my knees and like thought I was going to throw up.
34:02Because I couldn't believe what I was reading.
34:07Phil was living in Mexico.
34:09He was dating a girl.
34:11The girl is 46-year-old Paola Franco Estrada, a youthful entrepreneur and shop owner from Mexico City.
34:19Paola has a 10-year-old son.
34:21She and Phil had been dating for only a few months.
34:25Phil claimed she cheated on him and they had a big argument.
34:28And he walked off to get beer and cigarettes.
34:32He came back and she fell in the shower, was eternally bleeding.
34:35And he laid her on the bed and tried to revive her.
34:40She passed away.
34:42In an audio message to a friend in Mexico, Phil gives his account of what happened next.
34:49When I found a gun, I went right to the police.
34:52Everything was confusion.
34:54I don't think the police, I know what they knew what was going on.
34:57But I didn't understand me.
34:59But I didn't kill my girlfriend.
35:01I didn't do it.
35:04But Mexican authorities believe Phil brutally beat Paola to death.
35:09And they arrest him for her murder.
35:11The incriminating evidence is the former MMA fighter's own hands.
35:16His knuckles were bruised up.
35:20It's crazy.
35:22I mean, he always had a short temper, but, you know, not to be killing a woman.
35:28I didn't think he's capable of that.
35:32When he was worried to beat up, they were just reading the bag at the gym.
35:37Everybody should be reading the bag every day at the gym.
35:40Do you believe he's guilty?
35:51I don't... I try to...
35:56I can't see a world where he's not.
35:59Laying your hands on her, period. Why?
36:02Like, what good comes of ever touching a female?
36:09Like...
36:09Why?
36:12Like, why?
36:14Bro, it's so fucking sad, dude.
36:17What a sad story, dude.
36:20Jesus Christ.
36:26Those who know the fighter claim Phil's loved ones were often on the receiving end of his pent-up aggression.
36:34I knew Phil was very fucking mean with his girlfriends, because I was very good friends with Angela.
36:44I knew she was terrified of him.
36:48She'd come to the fights, and he would have her running around doing all his shit before the fight.
36:55Making her run to the store, do this, go get him this.
36:58And she'd come back with a bag of stuff, and sure enough, ugh, I didn't want this, I wanted this.
37:05You know, just complaining. The poor girl was just terrified.
37:09I hated that.
37:11He took a lot of his frustrations out on her and other people around him.
37:15He did it over and over again.
37:17He beat up, he was tough on his wife, he was tough on a girl in New York, he was
37:22tough on a girl in Mexico.
37:23I think that Phil didn't always appreciate the people that were in his corner.
37:28Did he treat you like that?
37:30Absolutely.
37:31Phil had moments where he treated me like he was very appreciative, and then he had moments where I feared
37:36for my life.
37:38You know, everyone looks at him like a monster.
37:41I guess when people say those things about him, you know, I understand and I get it.
37:47But they don't realize that he has a sister that loves him, and it affects me every day.
37:57It's just hard.
38:00I feel horrible for her family.
38:05Some of Phil's friends suspect the fighter's state of mind is related to an affliction that has haunted athletes with
38:11severe head trauma for years.
38:14The new study on CTE says the brain injury might be more common than we thought.
38:20CTE, it's a degenerative disease basically in your brain from too many shots to the head.
38:25The hallmarks of CTE are these brown lesions.
38:28The chemistry in the brain changes because of the trauma and that can cause loss of function in many ways,
38:35loss of control.
38:37You get triggered and you become more aggressive.
38:39There have been a couple of studies done on a couple of fighters that have passed away and that they
38:43showed signs of CTE.
38:45One of those was Jordan Parsons.
38:50In 2016, after the fighter died in a car accident, researchers found evidence of CTE in his brain.
38:57At 26 years old, he was one of the youngest athletes in any sport found with the condition.
39:03They can't really determine if you had CTE until you die.
39:07But Phil Brawny, I watched this man take a lot of abuse.
39:12Yeah, he's definitely a candidate for CTE.
39:15Over the few years that I had known him at that point, I was seeing his speech patterns significantly decline
39:21and becoming seemingly more violent, very short-tempered.
39:25And the CT scan reinforced everything we believed.
39:29Was this the alcohol and the other substances or was this getting punched in the dome too much?
39:34I suspect both things contributed to where Phil ended up.
39:40The worst part is, as a fighter, you know how dangerous you are.
39:45You know.
39:47Do I sound like I have CT?
39:49Do I sound like I don't know what's going on?
39:51Do I sound like I have brain fog?
39:53I think my speech is regular. I think my speech is the same.
39:58As Phil's friends and family reckoned with the tragedy in Mexico,
40:02many wonder if the fight industry should at least share blame for the grapplers' downward spiral.
40:09It should have stopped. He should have seen professional help.
40:13And that never happened.
40:15It's all over!
40:24Today, as Phil Barone sits in a correctional facility in Topique, Mexico, charged with murdering his girlfriend,
40:3146-year-old single mother, Paola Franco Estrada, with his bare hands.
40:35His friends and family wondered what more could have been done to prevent this from happening.
40:42If a fighter was getting knocked out too many times, I think you would see with some of the bigger
40:47promotions,
40:48they would take on the responsibility of not booking that fighter anymore.
40:52But my brother was going to other countries to fight, and they did not care.
40:57God knows what his MRI was looking like at that point.
41:00I think whatever issues he had, it made them worse.
41:05You know, we don't have the luxury of a players association that some of these other professional sports like football
41:10players and hockey players and other athletes have.
41:13We need to organize. We need to pay a little closer attention to some of our guys that have put
41:19their bodies through this kind of punishment.
41:23All of us have a little bit of something that get hit in the head.
41:25And we gave a piece of ourselves to become a professional fighter and to fight in front of the fans
41:31and to make the money.
41:32But there is a time where you should not leave everything in there.
41:37You can't just be bouncing all over the place and still trying to fight.
41:43You put the gloves down.
41:45As a man, you got to always look in the mirror and take accountability. You have to.
41:50Knocks out Phil Barone.
41:51But Phil, I don't think he ever did that.
41:54Where Phil ended up is one of those things you just don't want to hear.
41:58You don't want to know that one of your brothers, one of the guys that...
42:06Yeah, it just sucks.
42:12I'm not crazy and I'm going to kill it.
42:14I mean, it sounds like the only reason people think I did it is because they think I have CT.
42:19I don't have CT.
42:22People we interviewed who are fighters, they worry about themselves as much as they worry about you.
42:26Yeah, they worry about themselves. You know, we're going to get themselves.
42:32Phil currently awaits trial in Mexico.
42:36When's the last time you talked to Phil?
42:38A few months ago.
42:39Phil told me that nobody speaks English and he doesn't speak Spanish.
42:43That he weighs 135 pounds and he weighs 200.
42:48He's been in solitary confinement for over half the time he's been in there because of all the fights he
42:53gets in.
42:55Honestly, I think I've always kind of pitied the guy.
43:00He just seemed really disturbed by an individual that just didn't have any peace within his soul.
43:07I feel like at some level I failed him.
43:10He obviously failed himself.
43:14It just kind of tears at you.
43:15It tears at you.
43:16You've done more. Did you do the right thing? Are you doing the right thing now?
43:20I think that's a common human trait.
43:23Survivor's guilt.
43:24Could have done something.
43:26Could have steered him a different way and maybe things would have turned out differently.
43:30I'm sitting here very conflicted.
43:33Part of me feels like I'm selling out my old friend.
43:37Maybe me sitting here talking to you is more for me than anybody.
43:42But...
43:45Maybe in some way this can help somebody out there.
43:50Not be the next Phil Barone.
43:59That's the whole life, why?
44:02Maybe the next Phil Barone.
44:03Maybe you'll get to anything else.
44:05But…
44:05Maybe you won't do anything else.
Comments