Johnson made a name for himself last weekend at UFC on FOX 2 where he blasted Joey Beltran into the stratosphere with a series of brutal uppercuts, winning Knockout of the Night as a result. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Johnson who holds an overall record of 16-5 including fourteen TKOs.

Barry had a similar showing in his previous Octagon appearance as well, knocking out Christian Morecraft in the first frame of their January 20 fight on FX. The strike-based stoppage was Barry’s sixth in his seven total wins.

UFC on FOX 3 is scheduled to take place in East Rutherford, New Jersey and will feature a main card clash between lightweights Jim Miller-Nate Diaz. No word was given on whether Barry-Johnson would also be on the FOX broadcast or shown during the prelims.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

“Christian Morecraft fell on top of me, and Christian Morecraft went for submissions, but if you can become accustomed to having Cole Konrad trying to pull your arm off or Brock Lesnar trying to squeeze your head off, then you tend to stay a little bit more calm and relaxed, whereas before, as soon as you grabbed my forearm, I just started tapping everything,” stated Barry at the post-fight press conference. “I’ve definitely grown. My ground game is not as garbage as the world thinks.” He continued by saying, “I actually had a Guillotine for about three seconds.”

Barry stated that “repetition” had led him to becoming more comfortable on the ground. “It’s just repetition. You slowly start to understand that just because you’re on the bottom, doesn’t mean it’s over. You don’t have to panic. Just stay calm and collected. It’s like getting jabbed 1,000 times, eventually you won’t blink your eyes anymore.”

When asked if he was possibly happy that the fight went to the mat so he could prove that his ground game is coming along, Barry immediately responded with, “No. That was bad. I stayed more composed and did what I had to do but personally, I don’t want to fall to the ground ever. That is no secret.”

Barry managed to escape multiple submissions attempts from Morecraft, including an armbar that looked like it would have “HD” suffering another submission loss. When he was able to get the fight back on the feet, Barry showed off the skill that brought him to the dance: his technical striking and one punch power, clipping Morecraft with a left hook and then putting him out cold with a series of punches on his fallen victim.

While the knockout win felt good, Barry made a deal with himself that, “I was not going to cut my hair until I submit somebody in the octagon, which probably means that I’m going to have a Clay Guida in a little while. But that’s what I said. That’s the plan for now.” Barry then joked, “Someone actually wrote, ‘Snooki got taller’ after the weigh-ins. I wanted to be mad but I couldn’t.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Barry spoke about Morecraft in a preview for their match-up at tonight’s event where he alluded to a few of his past losses in terms of knowing better than to ever count an adversary out.

“I’m expecting the best possible Christian Morecraft I’ve ever seen,” said Barry on the subject. “That’s always my expectation. I’m expecting Mike Tyson every time I step into the Octagon.”

“He lost to Stefan Struve and so did I, but I was beating Stefan Struve,” Barry continued. Before joking, “He lost to Matt Mitrione but I think I might’ve beat Matt Mitrione this morning…twice…in my head.

“Have I found in his fights, have I seen openings, things I can capitalize on? Yes. But I’ve become one of knowing now that you never know what’s gonna happen until Friday night,” the affable kickboxer concluded. In addition to Struve, Barry seemingly had Cheick Kongo finished before absorbing a fight-ending blow himself and suffering a knockout defeat.

Catch their bout when the card starts at 9:00 PM EST. You can watch the full preview, also with commentary from Morecraft, below:

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Barry recently opened up on his approach in an interview with the UFC’s website where he explained fighting was equivalent to any other competition one can think of and shrugged off the taboo of training partners taking each other on because, at the end of the day, mixing it up in the ring is nothing more than business.

“This is a full contact game of chess which happens to entail striking and hitting each other in the head and in the body or submitting each other,” said Barry. “Those are the rules of the game, and if you can’t accept that, then you’re in the wrong sport.”

“I get into the Octagon and I can be friendly with all these guys beforehand, and I’m friendly with them during and friendly with them after. I don’t have to go into the ‘I hate you, now I’ve got to kill you’ mentality. I don’t dislike anybody, especially total strangers; I don’t have a reason to hate a stranger,” he continued. “Some guys need to hate your guts in order to hurt you. Maybe that just makes me crazy, because we can be best friends and I’ll still punch you in the head if we step into the Octagon together. But that’s just because I know this is what the game entails.”

The 32-year old kickboxer went on to compare it to a one-on-one game of basketball where opponents don’t take it easy on the other, or make it more than it is, because they’re simply trying to win. His belief also carries over when it comes to potentially fighting his teammates.

“When you’re training together, you go at each other a lot more intense than you do when you’re at a fight because you’re in the comfort of there’s no one watching, we’re just at practice, we’ve got big gloves on,” explained Barry. “So when guys are training together, they beat the sh*t out of each other a lot worse than they do in an actual fight, but when it comes to fight time, they’re like ‘No man, I can’t do it.’ Wait, you can kick my ass for free, but you won’t do it and get paid?’ That don’t make sense.”

Fans can see if Barry’s mindset helps or hinders him against Morecraft when the two lock horns in co-headlining action at UFC on FX. The main card starts up at 9:00 PM EST with preliminary pairings being shown on Fuel TV a few hours earlier. The evening’s festivities are headlined by a bout between top lightweights Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Barry, who will meet Stefan Struve Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC Live 6, is looking to rebound from a devastating loss to Cheick Kongo in which he was winning the fight before Kongo delivered a hard punch that floored Barry.

“That’s the name of the game,” said Barry, in a recent interview on the UFC website. “We’re gonna knock people out and we’re gonna get knocked out, that’s no avoiding that part of it. I was lucky enough to go a really long time without ever having to come across it, but if you can’t accept getting knocked out or losing or getting hit, then this is the wrong sport to be in.”

If Barry had been a viewer of Kongo’s epic comeback, he would have been a fan, saying, “If that was two other people and not me, that would have been one of my favorite comebacks ever. That’s a cool fight, a cool comeback, and a cool highlight from the first knockdown to the end. It might be the coolest 20 seconds ever.”

Even during a six-year kickboxing career, Barry was never knocked out, so this is all new territory for him. Of course, if he needs advice on how to recover from a knockout loss, he could ask any of the five men he has knocked out in his MMA career.

In Struve, Barry faces a man that stands a foot taller than he does who is also a kickboxer. However, Struve is also coming off a strike-based stoppage with his defeat suffered at the hands of Travis Browne.

“I’ve fought really tall guys in kickboxing and I’ve come across guys like that before,” Barry said. “But I’ve never come across an almost seven foot tall, young, energetic, athletic Dutch kickboxer who is extremely dangerous. And if you know anything about the world of fighting, then you know that Dutch kickboxers are some of the most dangerous kickboxers on Earth.”

For this bout with Struve, Barry left Roufusport in Wisconsin to train with DeathClutch in Minnesota. There, he has been working with wrestlers like Brock Lesnar to get better with takedowns and takedown defense, along with training with more heavyweights.

“If you’re a big guy, you need to train with big guys,” Barry said. “Ever since I made the transition to DeathClutch from Roufusport, I’ve been getting all these messages – ‘Oh, you’re a traitor,’ ‘How could you leave?’ But we need big people to train with. This is what we do, and you gotta be able to simulate it as much as possible.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The first was confirmed by the organization earlier today.

“Hype or Die” hasn’t quite lived up to the hype inside the octagon thus far, trading wins and loss in his six UFC appearances. He suffered a heartbreaking defeat in his last fight against Cheick Kongo this past June. After nearly finishing the French striker in the early moments of the fight, Barry left himself a little too open for a couple of counter rights hands, which Kongo placed perfectly behind the ear and then on the chin, putting Barry out cold in what many consider to be the front runner for “Knockout of the Year.”

“Skyscraper” has found more success in the cage, posting a 5-3 UFC record, including a win over former UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello. In all of his defeats though, Struve has been (T)KO’d, including in his most recent bout against Travis Browne at UFC 130. Struve has earned a reputation for being in exciting fights and pulling off comeback victories.

UFC Live 6 is scheduled for October 1 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. The event will be headlined by a UFC bantamweight title fight with Dominick Cruz battling challenger Demetrious Johnson.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

News of the pugilistic pairing was first brought to light by MMAWeekly.

Kongo is at a crossroads in his career after only notching a single victory in his last four outings including a less-than aesthetically pleasing draw against Travis Browne at UFC 120 in October. The Frenchman is 15-6-2 in his career with nine TKO wins to his credit.

Considered to be one of the division’s better kickboxers, Kongo should have his skills put to the test against 6-2 Barry who also excels at stand-up and is known for some of the most devastating kicks in MMA. The affable 31-year old has stopped five of the six opponents he’s beaten by way of strikes including UFC performances against Dan Evensen and Antoni Hardonk.

No other fights are currently attached to UFC Live 4.

Brock Lesnar Talks TUF 13 (MMAFighting.com)

Catch Up with “The Dean of Mean” (CagePotato.com)

Eleven Fights Make the Cut for UFC’s Next Appearance on Versus (Versus.com)

More than 40,000 Tickets Expected for UFC 129 (HeavyMMA.com)

FIGHT! Magazine Profiles Cain Velasquez (FIGHT! Magazine)

Pat Barry Discusses his Fight Night 23 Win (MMAScraps.com)

Join Tim Sylvia on a Ride Along (MMAConvert.com)

Mike Guymon Retires from MMA (MiddleEasy.com)

The hard-hitting Louisianan announced today via his Twitter page that he will be fighting fellow striker Joey Beltran on January 22nd at the UFC’s upcoming “Fight for the Troops” event scheduled to take place at Fort Hood in Texas.

Based on both individuals’ previous performances it seems safe to assume grappling should be a non-existent discipline when Barry and Beltran battle in the cage, as the 12-4 “Mexicutioner” has earned ten of his wins by way of TKO with Barry notching all five of his career victories in the same manner.

Their fight rounds out what should be an excellent line-up come showtime, as a headlining bout between lightweight contenders Ken Florian and Evan Dunham is scheduled for the card, as is a scrap between Melvin Guillard and Yves Edwards in addition to match-ups featuring Mike Swick and Matt Mitrione.

Two of the UFC’s most dangerous heavyweight knockout artists are set to wage war at UFC 104.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com has recently been able to confirm a match-up between Pat Barry and Antoni Hardonk through sources close to the fight.

The two will square off at UFC 104 which is set for October 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Both men are veterans of the K-1 organization, and both are feared and respected for their vicious striking arsenals.

Barry has gone 1-1 in the UFC with a TKO victory and a submission loss to his credit, while Hardonk has put together a respectable record of 3-3 in the octagon, with his most recent bout being a ground and pound defeat at the hands and elbows of Cheick Kongo at UFC 97.

UFC 104 will be headlined by a light heavyweight championship match-up between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the new matchup after speaking with two separate sources close to the fight. Both sources stated that bout agreements have been signed.

Barry improved to 4-0 in his UFC debut this past December at UFC 92 following a first round TKO over Dan Evensen. Utilizing devastating low kicks that made him a K-1 standout, Barry forced a stop to the fight after Evensen could barely stand.

Trained by Duke Roufus and Eric Schafer, Barry was a two time U.S. Open San Shou champion before he ended up moving to Holland to train full time with four-time K-1 champion Ernesto Hoost in Amsterdam. After making his own successful career in K-1 and competing for a short time in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, the 29-year old heavyweight hooked up with Roufus and Schafer and made the crossover into competitive MMA in May of 2008.

Hague is a three-year veteran who will making his UFC debut in spite of the fact that he signed a contract with EliteXC this past October. Possessing a mixed martial arts record of 9-1, the Edmonton native holds victories over notable names such as UFC veteran Sherman Pendergarst, Ruben Villareal and Jared Kilkenny.

Hague’s sole professional loss came via split decision to Miodrag Petkovic at HCF: Destiny. However, he avenged the defeat in his most recent fight this past October courtesy of a unanimous decision at a Raw Combat event.

In addition to Barry vs. Hague, UFC 98 will reportedly be headlined by Brock Lesnar defending his UFC heavyweight title against interim UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Other reported matchups include Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes; Sean Sherk vs. Frankie Edgar; Andre Gusmao vs. Houston Alexander; James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries; Phillipe Nover vs. Kyle Bradley; and George Roop vs. Dave Kaplan.

Editor’s Note: Tim Hague is pictured on the homepage.

There will be a limited number of ways to shine brightly on a card packed with stars this Saturday night at UFC 92 and one of them will be with a highlight reel knockout. Something Barry freely confesses he will be aiming for when he steps into the octagon for the very first time.

Entering the UFC, Barry will secure his spot as one of the heavyweight division’s most decorated and dangerous strikers. The New Orleans based fighter was a two time U.S. Open San Shou champion before he ended up moving to Holland to train full time with four time K-1 champion Ernesto Hoost in Amsterdam.

After making his own successful career in K-1 and competing for a short time in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, Barry decided that it was time to transition his kickboxing to work for him in the more complete fighting world of mixed martial arts. The 29-year old heavyweight hooked up with Duke Roufus and UFC veteran Eric Schafer, making the crossover in May of 2008 and hasn’t looked back since.

Upon venturing into MMA, Barry has looked nothing short of spectacular. In just three months this year the 5’11″, 230 pound powerhouse reeled off three wins with all three victories coming by way of knockout. Now less than a year into his MMA career he is looking at a four fight contract with the UFC and the opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity, he told FiveOuncesOfPain.com in an exclusive interview, he would be sure to take full advantage of.

With lightning in his fists and some of the most brutal kicks ever seen in mixed martial arts, Pat Barry will be a name that many will be sure to be talking about this coming Sunday morning.

Cory Brady: So where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

Pat Barry: My parents used to open bilingual elementary schools around the world. I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana but I was raised in Bogota, Colombia until I was six. My parents had opened a school in Ecuador and they opened a school in Bogota and I stayed there until my father got sick with cancer and we moved back to the states before he passed away. After my dad passed away it was my myself, my younger brother, my older sister and my mom and we ended up staying in New Orleans up until now.

Cory Brady: So how did you end up hooking up with Ernesto Hoost?

Pat Barry: I was asked if I wanted to train some kickboxing in Amsterdam at Ernesto’s gym by a friend of mine that was in the U.N. He said he would sponsor me if I went out there to train so I went and I guess I did pretty good. I must have put on a pretty good showing because they eventually asked me to go in the back room to train with the superstar guys. Guys like Jerell Venetian and Gilbert Yvel were back there. It was the special training. When I started training there I would just pick Ernesto’s brains and just ask him a million questions. I would just never leave him alone until he eventually just agreed to be my friend. We got cool, we got really close. The more we got to know each other he saw that I had a lot of ability and liked my personality and eventually he asked me to train with him full time.

Cory Brady: You were already a pretty accomplished kickboxer by the time you went to train with Ernesto. What are some of the most valuable lessons you took away from training with him?

Pat Barry: One of the most important lessons I learned from training with Ernesto is that you can’t knock everybody out. All of my fights had been ending by knockout left and right. I know that was one of my first rude awakenings was having a sparring session with him that went past one or two rounds. He was the one that showed me that you have to be able to go the distance and that you need to have more than just the “knock the guy out” plan. Ernesto just knows everything about kickboxing. He’s been in the game for years and he’s done it all. I had to learn that there’s more to the game other than punching and kicking. There’s an emotional side that is attached to it as well. In order to be the best of the best there are a lot of sacrifices and a lot of dedication that goes into it. It’s not just going to practice and that’s it.

Cory Brady: I heard that you first started training professionally for kickboxing at the age of 21. What caused you to decide to start training kickboxing while you were a student at LSU?

Pat Barry: I was 23 when I. threw my first punch and a year into training is when I started fighting professionally. Ever since I was a kid all I’ve wanted to do was be a ninja. I was a ninja every Halloween and I used to collect swords and ninja stars growing up. I would play Street Fighter video games, watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I was an absolute Jean Claude Van Damme fanatic. When I started kickboxing it was just a hobby for some exercise. The more I did it, the more I liked it and the more I liked it, the more I loved it. Then one day I accidentally knocked out the wrong guy and realized that I was really good at it.

Cory Brady: So you took part in the 2004 K-1 tryouts in Las Vegas. What was that like?

Pat Barry: My brother, my cousin and I got in a car and drove from New Orleans all the way to Las Vegas. We got to Las Vegas at like two minutes to twelve and twelve o’clock was the last tryout session. I jumped out of the car on the strip and ran all the way up the Bellagio parking lot which is like a mile while while I was barefoot, in my kickboxing shorts. I had never been to Vegas before so I had no idea where I was and I was running through all kinds of people. I was running over people left and right and just ran into the lobby screaming “Wait! Wait!”. Luckily, the people that knew what was going on pointed me in the right direction and I got in there at the last second. I ended up with the last tryout slot. I went in there and just out shined everybody. When it came to the personality, the boxing, the defense and the sparring, I out did everybody by far.

Cory Brady: What kind of different tests would they put you through?

Pat Barry: First they check your appearance and then they check your flexibility. Then they check your conditioning by having you run back and forth and all sorts of stuff like that. They want to check your boxing out where they have specific people hold the pads for you. They want to check your kicks and then they check your punch kick combinations. Then they would have us spar. You’re supposed to spar like seven guys and I sparred two and they told me not to worry about it. I kicked the first guy in the leg once and he didn’t want to do it anymore. He was like 6’5″ and 300 pounds. The second guy. I punched him in the head once with a left hook and he just collapsed on the ground. That’s how I ended up getting my initial K-1 fight with Scott Lighty.

Cory Brady: What caused the switch from kickboxing to mixed martial arts?

Pat Barry: It’s just the way that fight sports are evolving nowadays. I’m not saying that kickboxing is dying but MMA is just taking over the world at such a fast rate. If you want to call yourself a fighter then you have to be ready for any type of battle on any different terrain at any given time. I just think that mixed martial arts is the ultimate collaboration of all of the different martial arts styles. MMA is just really taking over. It’s everywhere now, everywhere you look. You can’t even go anywhere without seeing Chuck Liddell. It’s on the movies, the TV, the radio, the billboards, the commercials, it’s everywhere. You don’t see anything about kickboxing outside of MMA in the states.

Cory Brady: Are there any plans to return to kickboxing anytime soon?

Pat Barry: I’m pursuing MMA to the fullest. I’m not against kickboxing. I’m not going to turn it down if an opportunity comes around but that’s just not where my main focus is. I’ll still be a kickboxer. I’m just going to do it in the cage.

Cory Brady: So are you going to be looking to come out with a bang in your UFC debut?

Pat Barry: I just want to make a mega ridiculous statement in my very first fight. I want to let everyone know that I have arrived from the very first fight. People say that there are no elite level strikers in UFC’s heavyweight division. Guys just aren’t going for it anymore. A fight is a show and we have to keep the crowd happy. From what I see a lot of guys are neglecting their striking nowadays. Everybody has been focusing on their wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Which is awesome, I’ve actually been focusing on my wrestling and my jiu-jitsu more than my striking for this fight coming up, but people have been neglecting their striking a lot. Like I said, it’s a show for the fans and we have to keep the fans happy.

Cory Brady: How do you feel you match up with Dan Evensen?

Pat Barry: Dan Evensen poses a few problems for me because he’s taller, he’s heavier than me and he’s way more experienced than I am. I think that one of my advantages is that because of my height and my weight I can be underestimated. I’m 5’11″ and I weigh 230 pounds. Also, people underestimate me because they see my nice demeanor and that I’m just a real calm and relaxed guy so I think I have an advantage because I’m unknown.

Cory Brady: He seems like he likes to stand up in most of his fights. Do you expect him to stand and trade with you?

Pat Barry: They say he’s a striker and I say that everybody’s a striker until they get hit by a real striker and then they turn into wrestler’s really fast.

Cory Brady: So have you been focusing a lot on your takedown defense?

Pat Barry: Yeah, I’ve been focusing on a lot of takedown defense. I think he’s going to want to stand with me until I either hit him or throw something that misses him and it scares the [expletive] out of him. The majority of my training has been takedown defense and being able to get back to my feet.

Cory Brady: How do you see this fight unfolding?

Pat Barry: I keep envisioning the knockout of the night when I go to sleep at night. Like an awful career ending knockout.

Cory Brady: Where have you been training to get ready for Evensen?

Pat Barry: At Duke Roufus Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Duke Roufus is my main coach and Eric Schafer is my jiu-jitsu coach.

Cory Brady: Do you see anyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division that could give you any problems standing right now?

Pat Barry: Antoni Hardonk is the only person that comes to mind. Antoni is by far the best striker in the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Cory Brady: Obviously your stand up is of the highest caliber so the question is, how’s the ground game been coming along?

Pat Barry: It has really come a long way. I’m kind of a mutant when it comes to picking up on things. I think it’s come really far for only having five months of any kind of ground training. I asked Eric where I stood right now and he said that I was comfortable on the ground with blue belts. So I’m getting stronger on the ground, my conditioning is getting better and I was told my instincts are really coming along.

Cory Brady: Anyone you’d really love to test yourself against in the UFC or just whoever they put you up against?

Pat Barry: You know everyone always says that they’ll fight anyone but that’s not really me. I want to be the best in the world so in order to be the best, you have to beat whoever the best is at that time whenever you get the opportunity. I’ll be honest with you, Brock Lesnar is probably the scariest man that I have ever seen.

Cory Brady: Thanks a lot and good luck in your UFC debut. Is there anyone you would like to thank before I let you go?

Pat Barry: Duke Roufus, Eric Schafer, Brian Butler, Sucker Punch Entertainment, TapouT and Gamma-O.

The heavyweight tilt between the two will be contested under mixed martial arts rules.

Barry made his MMA debut this past May and has already compiled a pro record of 3-0 with multiple first round (T)KO victories coming in the Combat USA promotion.

As a kickboxer, Barry recorded a notable victory over Gary Goodridge in April of 2007 during K-1′s North American Grand Prix tournament in Hawaii. He’s also a former competitor in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League and was a silver medalist during the 2003 Kung-Fu World Championship.

Walker is 2-3 as a mixed martial artist but is very accomplished as a kickboxer, holding a notable victory over former K-1 North American champion Carter Williams. The 36-year old Walker has a Karate background and also compiled a 5-0 record while competing in “Toughman” competitions.

“Payback” will be televised live on HDNet and will feature a main event between middleweights Frank Trigg and Falaniko Vitale along with a rematch between Duane “Bang” Ludwig and Sammy “The Squeeze” Morgan. Former UFC veterans Pete Spratt and Phil Baroni are also slated to compete against yet-to-be named opponents.

Today, I am proud to announce that Ben Fowlkes has agreed to be a contributing writer for this site as well.

If Ben’s name is familiar to you, it’s because Ben is the editor of IFL.tv (the IFL’s official web site) and like me, is also a special contributor to CBSSports.com’s MMA section.

Ben recently started his own blog, The Fighting Life, as an outlet to to express news and views outside of the IFL.

While Ben is a paid contributor for the IFL, I am confident that he will be able to provide an unbiased voice here at FiveOuncesOfPain.com. In getting to know some of the people at the IFL through my journalistic dealings with the promotion, I know for a fact that they are receptive to working with any and all promotions and believe in promoting the sport of MMA, not just the IFL brand. That philosophy extends to all branches of the company.

The fact that a major site like CBSSports.com is also comfortable with Ben submitting content to its site also speaks volumes.

Basically, I am confident Ben will call it down the middle. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have recruited him to become a part of 5 Oz. But to be fair, I’ve just made the full disclosure of Ben’s involvement with the IFL (lest anyone thought otherwise) and his affiliation with the IFL will be noted in the byline in all of his submissions to the site.

I’m excited to have Ben on board because he now has a second forum in addition to his own blog to express any and all MMA views. He’s a hardcore MMA fan (why do you think a promotion like the IFL hired him in the first place?) who watches all of the promotions.

I still have two more announcements to make. One will be in regard to a new site administrator on Wednesday and the other will pertain to my future and will be made sometime this week.

Please feel free to leave comments welcoming Ben aboard.