PICK your poison.

That is the cold message Sydney mixed martial arts fighter Joel Kendrick has delivered to Jarod Barke ahead of their caged confrontation at Adelaide Oval Saturday night.

“(The fight) will be (finished) inside the first round, but it’s up to him how he gets finished,” Kendrick declared to The Advertiser.
“I feel we have similar styles, except I’m better.”

The welterweight (77.1kg) clash, billed as a ‘superfight’, will serve as the co-main event for Diamondback Fighting Championship’s fifth show.

With his confidence resting in the atmosphere, Kendrick, 21, believes he can’t lose with support from one of the nation’s best MMA gyms — Australian Top Team (ATT).

“I train under the tutelage of the Mokhtarian brothers (Ashkan and Suman), we have some of the best in Australia on the mats and it can only help to push you,” Kendrick (4W-1L-1D) said.

“No Australian welterweight can match me on the feet so I think (Barke) will try to take it down, he’ll be surprised by my wrestling.”

But Kendrick’s bold prediction is no deterrent for Cardio-Flex MMA competitor Barke.

The 30-year-old has no plans to be a stepping stone in front of his home crowd when the pair finally come face-to-face.

“I think I can stop the fight on my feet and also on the ground, it all comes down to who gets there first,” Barke said.

A stoppage against Kendrick would be a huge coup for Barke, whose record stands at 0W-2L. The last time he entered the cage — at DFC 2 last year — Barke showed tremendous heart across three tough rounds as he traded blows with ATT’s Sam Jo Toetu. Barke lost by unanimous decision.

“I’m thinking the fight will mostly take place on the feet, I’m really looking forward to getting in there and proving who has the better striking,” Barke said.

For this event DFC has teamed up with Cancer Council SA, donating all proceeds from T-shirt sales to help KO cancer.