Francisco Albano Barrio (born 22 June 1989), commonly known as Croata Barrio, is an

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

-born

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division of KSW.

Background

Barrio was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. In 1994, he and his family moved to

Zagreb, Croatia Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. It was here that he began

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, in which he competed for the Argentina national team from 2005 to 2012. Today, he is a professional

and is signed with Final Fight Championship, one of the fastest growing

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

promotions in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Greco-Roman Wrestling career

At the age of seven, Barrio became interested in the sport, and practiced various disciplines. He began training in Lokomotiva Wrestling Club, Zagreb. He soon started to win tournaments, which led to him participating in national championships, and then in international events. In Croatia, he gained experience by competing regularly with wrestlers from all across Europe. He stood out as a wrestler with great potential. At seventeen he returned with his family to their home country, Argentina, where he continued with the training activities. He has managed several victories both locally and internationally, Multiple Argentine champion in the junior and senior categories, being undefeated in the 66 kg category. He excelled in international competitions such as the Pan American and South American, taking three medals in the first tournament and two in the second. He competed in various international tournaments in America, Asia and Europe, and later in the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Wrestling trials in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

ahead of the 2012 games in London. He lost on points in a close fight against Wuileixis Rivas, in which the winner qualified directly to the Olympic Games. Francisco accumulated over 100 wins in all his Greco-Roman Wrestling career. He competed in Croatian Wrestling League, in -74 kg weight category, on 12 October 2013 while preparing for his

Final Fight Championship Final Fight Championship (FFC) is an international fighting sports promotion company founded in 2003 by the FFC owner and CEO Orsat Zovko. The company has its headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, as well as a European office in Zagreb, Croat ...

debut. In 2nd league round he scored victory for Lokomotiva Wrestling Club, the same club where he made his first steps in wrestling.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Francisco Barrio started his

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

career while training at Nova União and the Pana Wrestling Team in Buenos Aires. His debut was in the lightweight division, on 14 July 2012, at Real Combat Conviction. He won via submission, with a rear-naked choke just 1:14 into the first round. On October 20, 2012 Francisco win Alexander Ceballos via Submission (keylock). At KIF 2 - Killer Instinct Fight 2, Croata defeated Esteban Zuñiga via TKO in first round.

FFC

On June 27, 2013, Croata signed with the European MMA promotion,

. Francisco won in his

debut by unanimous decision against Darko Banović in the Featherweight division. Francisco next defeated Patrick Peresa, after 54 seconds of the third round, by submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at FFC13. The official public page of

announced that Francisco will fight Vaso Bakočević in FFC on October 31, 2014, in a featherweight title eliminator. The fight failed to materialize, and Barrio was rescheduled to fight Filip Pejić at FFC 15. Pejić won the fight by a first-round knockout. After his loss to Pejić, Barrio took a five year break from the sport. He returned in December 2019, when he was scheduled to fight Adi Duraković at FNC 2. The fight ended after 18 seconds, as Duraković collapsed to the floor. Barrio fought again at FNC 3, against Aleksandar Janković. He beat Janković by a third-round submission via neck crank.

KSW

Barrrio signed with KSW on October 31, 2020 and faced Mateusz Legierski at KSW 56: Polska vs. Chorwacja on November 14, 2020. He lost the fight via majority decision. His second fight with KSW came at KSW 58: Kołecki vs. Zawada, when he faced Bartłomiej Kopera. Barrio won the fight by unanimous decision. Barrio was scheduled to face Vaso Bakočević at FNC: Armagedon Quarterfinals on September 11, 2021. He won the fight by a first-round submission. Barrio stepped in as a short notice opponent for Łukasz Rajewski at KSW 70: Pudzianowski vs. Materla on May 28, 2022. He won the bout via rear-naked choke in the second round. Barrio faced Maciej Kazieczko at KSW 76: Parnasse vs. Rajewski on November 12, 2022. He lost the fight by a third-round knockout.

Personal life

Francisco is son of popular

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Rodolfo Barrio Saavedra who was actively involved in the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

Rankings

* Barrio was ranked second in division at the 2007 Pan American Championship in

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

* Barrio was ranked second in the 2008 Pan American Championship in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. * Barrio was ranked 20th World Championship held in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

* Barrio was ranked third in the 2010 Pan American Championship in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

* Barrio was ranked number one in the 2010 South American Games. *Argentinian champion: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. * 2014 No. 7 prospect in the world up to 66 kg.

Honors

*''Olimpia de plata'': 2008. *''Revelacion Clarin'': 2010.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , Maciej Kazieczko , KO (punches) , KSW 76: Parnasse vs. Rajewski , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:20 ,

Grodzisk Mazowiecki Grodzisk Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 29,363 inhabitants (2011). It is 30 km. southwest of Warsaw. Between 1975 and 1998 it was situated in the Warszawa Voivodeship but since 1999 it has been situated in the Masovian Voivodesh ...

, Poland , Fight of the Night , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Łukasz Rajewski , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KSW 70: Pudzianowski vs. Materla , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:51 ,

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Vaso Bakočević , Technical Submission (guillotine choke) , FNC: Armagedon Quarterfinals , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

Šibenik Šibenik () is a historic city in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is a political, educational, transport, industrial and tourist center of Šibenik-Knin County, and is also the ...

, Croatia , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Bartłomiej Kopera , Decision (unanimous) , KSW 58: Kołecki vs. Zawada , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 , Mateusz Legierski , Decision (majority) , KSW 56: Materla vs. Soldić , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Aleksandar Janković , Submission (neck crank) , Fight Nation Championship 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:19 ,

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, Croatia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Adi Duraković , TKO (retirement) , Fight Nation Championship 2: Edge of Tomorrow , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:18 ,

, Croatia , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–1 , Filip Pejić , KO (punch) , FFC 15: Poreč , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:20 ,

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, whic ...

, Croatia , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Patrick Pereša , Submission (rear-naked choke) , FFC 13: Jurković vs. Tavares , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:50 ,

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

, Croatia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Darko Banović , Decision (unanimous) , FFC 8: Zelg vs. Rodriguez , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Croatia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Esteban Zuñiga , TKO (doctor stoppage) , KIF 2 - Killer Instinct Fight 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:05 , Neuquen, Argentina , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Alexander Ceballos , Submission (americana) , KIF - Killer Instinct Fight , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:35 , Neuquen, Argentina , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Santiago Mendez , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Conviction MMA 3 - Argentina vs. Peru , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:51 ,

, Argentina , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrio, Francisco Albano 1988 births Living people Argentine male mixed martial artists Argentine emigrants Immigrants to Croatia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Argentine male sport wrestlers Croatian male mixed martial artists Croatian male sport wrestlers South American Games gold medalists for Argentina South American Games medalists in wrestling Competitors at the 2010 South American Games Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling