Josh Barnett has been competing in Mixed Martial Arts for 14 years, and it has been a total roller coaster ride for him, but he is now in position to put himself back on top of the MMA world.
Specializing in “catch” wrestling, Barnett has made a career of taking his opponents to the mat and in most cases submitting them. Catch wrestling’s main phrase is “catch as catch can,” meaning if you see an opening for a submission, then lock it in. In 35 professional fights, 18 of those have ended by way of submission, and Barnett seeks his 19th when he faces sambo specialist and boxer, Sergei Kharitonov in the semi-finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Barnett’s fight with Kharitonov is a huge stepping stone for him, not only will he have the chance to become the Grand Prix Champion, but he will also be moved up in the rankings. With a win he would face the winner of Antonio Silva and Daniel Cormier, and the winner of that fight would be the Grand Prix Champion. After that is where the question marks come into play.
With the UFC signing a deal with FOX, that means that they want to put on the best fights possible. That being said, some of the big fights that people want to see are between fighters in Strikeforce and the UFC. The winner of the Grand Prix could end up facing the UFC Heavyweight Champion as their first fight in the promotion. Barnett has stated that he would like to become the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion and continue to fight for Strikeforce. At the rate things are going, once the Grand Prix is over some of these heavyweight fighters will put in the UFC, and there is a great chance that Barnett will be one of them.
Can Josh Barnett realistically become the UFC Heavyweight Champion once again?
Josh Barnett has the tools to be the best heavyweight fighter in the world. He is very strong, and terribly smart. If he were to go into a fight with Junior Dos Santos and try to outbox him, well then he would be in some serious trouble, but if Barnett plays to his strengths from here on out, it is very possible that he could truly become back on top in the division.
It has been almost 10 years since Barnett was on top, and at only 33 years old, he still has a few solid years left in him. As long as Barnett remains healthy and makes smart decisions, then his future is bright. When it comes down to it, the only person that will be able to stop Barnett, will be Barnett himself.