Issue 077
July 2011
Old grudges die hard. Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett’s beef with UFC president Dana White could see him out of a job. But you can’t finish him that easy…
Before Jon Jones there was Josh Barnett. When the 23-year-old ‘Bones’ became the youngest UFC title-holder ever upon halting ‘Shogun’ Rua earlier this year, he broke a record that had stood for nearly a decade. It belonged to current Strikeforce fighter Barnett, who won the UFC heavyweight title in 2002 from Randy Couture at only 24 years of age. The young catch wrestler received similar plaudits back then that now shower upon the current 205lb champion, but the road to pugilistic immortality is rarely clear.
In a career benefitting from the tutelage of coaching legends Matt Hume and Erik Paulson, Barnett not only took the belt from Hall of Famer Couture at UFC 36, but won his way to the 2006 Pride open-weight grand prix final three years after becoming a King of Pancrase. Though positive drugs tests have troubled his career – both stripping him of his UFC belt, and costing a big-money match-up against Fedor Emelianenko in 2009 – wins against ‘Big Nog’, Aleksander Emelianenko and Hidehiko Yoshida are only some of Barnett’s successes which have affirmed his status as one of the division’s most dangerous.
Regardless, this accomplished 29-5 MMA elder could soon be relegated to second-tier shows. Josh’s long-running war of words with UFC boss Dana White means that should Strikeforce merge with the Las Vegas behemoth (as many predict now the parent company of the latter owns the former) Barnett’s services may ultimately be undesired. The fallout started when Josh, now California-based, tested positive for anabolic steroids after his 2002 UFC heavyweight title win and has been stoked by subsequent years of mudslinging in the press between himself and Mr White – the most-visited theme, back in the day, being Barnett’s barbs about the superiority of Pride’s heavyweight division over White’s plus-225lb’ers. “For me to go out there and stir it up a bit, it was nothing more than promotion, even though I did believe it,” reveals Josh. “Dana White would say something about me and all I would do is just take the piss out of him really.” And they’re still at loggerheads now.
Prior to the UFC’s purchase of Strikeforce, White was asked in an online interview whether he thought Barnett would be cleared to fight by any athletic commission due to past drug-test failures. “I highly doubt it. We’ll see; I’m not a regulator. I’m not a big Josh Barnett fan. I think he’s bad for the sport. All the s**t that comes out of his mouth is stupid… You’ll never see him in the UFC.” Naturally, Barnett had a retort. He told the same website: “I’ll definitely pass the test. Dana White’s stature has changed quite a bit from a boxercise instructor. I’d be interested to see Dana White pass some drug tests. I’ve passed tests since then.”
While there’s clearly no love lost between the two, it’s an animosity created by mistakes rather than design. “I really do regret the way I left the UFC,” says Barnett, with genuine remorse. “That wasn’t really the best of anything, honestly. I don’t regret going to Japan and having the experiences that I did, but I wish I had left under better circumstances. As for all the stuff that went on between us, me and Dana White and whatnot, I don’t regret that; I think a lot of funny stuff was said.” Surely, considering the history, news of Strikeforce’s absorption into the Zuffa family must have induced a sinking feeling? “I just didn’t really know where I stood,” says Josh with a hint of dejection. “I had to figure that out first to the best of my ability.” He has his job, for now.
While his loose tongue may have caused trouble with the UFC’s top brass, it’s also part of what endears him to fans. Josh’s ability to spin one-liners and catch the ear with eyebrow-raising comments bests the vast majority of his peers. “It certainly hasn’t hurt me in terms of keeping me on the tip of people’s tongues and in their ears,” explains Josh. “Even if you take a piece of yourself and you make it larger than life, either way you still have to be something that is related to you. Otherwise people are going to find it insincere, not believe it and then really not give a s**t at all.”
Being somewhat of a joker is Barnett’s calling card. Even in serious, career-defining situations he has shown a light-hearted side. Like telling Samoan stand-up mauler Mighty Mo to knee him in the groin after the pair’s 2010 Dream 13 fight, in reciprocation for Barnett landing a grimace-inducing, though unintentional, boot to the K-1 fighter’s jewels early in the first round.
Not even during the pre-fight stare-down of his Pride 2006 grand prix final against Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ could Barnett keep a straight face. “Mirko had an eyelash in his eye so I told him, ‘Hey, hey, you’ve got an eyelash in your eye. No, no, right there.’ I have no fear, I have no nervousness. I don’t really care about being in the ring, it doesn’t affect me in any way like that. It’s natural for me to be there and try and maim somebody – that’s fine.”
As Josh hints, while he might sometimes play the clown, when the bell rings his mindset swings to darkness. “I have some very black and white attitudes when it comes to getting in the ring, and I’ve had people tell me they find them quite extreme.” Probing what exactly he means provides a rare insight into the man’s unexpectedly intense fight mentality. “The only thing I will say is that I don’t really have any mercy or compassion for anybody I fight – at all. I don’t expect it back and I’m not really there to make sure nobody gets hurt.”
That’s a warning call to any of the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’s potential Strikeforce heavyweight tournament opponents, especially as analysts are now tipping Barnett as favorite to take the ultimate prize after the expulsion of regular odds beater Fedor. “I can strike with anybody in this tournament,” boasts Barnett, “and I will because every fight starts on the feet, but none of them are going to want to be on their back with me on top.”
Outside of his huge fight experience, extending over 34 bouts and two continents, Barnett is marked as such a dangerous proposition because of his unorthodox grappling game. His massive 17 tapout wins can’t be attributed to Brazilian jiu-jitsu (although he does hold world titles in the sport) but to catch wrestling. A submission-heavy style of folk wrestling founded hundreds of years ago in the working-class coal mining towns of Lancashire, England. It’s one of the lesser-known foundation stones of modern mixed martial arts both in the West and Japan. Tutored by one of the most respected proponents of the art in Billy Robinson, Josh believes the grappling style is underrated amongst students of MMA, who he suggests have no interest in learning wrestling, instead preferring the flashy, exotic and more available jiu-jitsu. “I think if more people were doing catch they’d probably be finishing more guys.”
Just as his catch wrestling mentor Robinson drifted into professional wrestling, Josh has a sideline business in the squared circle in Japan – a sport he’s been a fan of since childhood. In the Orient he’s just as recognized for his achievements in Pride, Sengoku, Dream and Pancrase as for his worked matches in New Japan, U-Style and Inoki Genome Federation. Wrestling since 2002 after a hook-up from friend and former UFC fighter Tsuyoshi ‘TK’ Kohsaka, Josh can’t accurately gauge his volume of wrestling matches, though estimates he’s stepped through the ropes at least 200 times, and credits it with making him a better fighter. “Being in front of everybody night after night, psyching yourself up, getting in the ring, being aware of where the ropes are, the ring, other opponents, whether it’s a tag match, the crowd, the ref – just living in that environment helps.”
Outside of being humorous and light-hearted, traits somewhat rare in today’s fighters, perhaps it’s esoteric interests such as pro wrestling that make Josh Barnett such a personable and popular fighter. “I can say with a straight face that I’ve been to roleplaying game conventions, I’ve played Warhammer 40,000, I’ve played Warhammer Fantasy,” reveals Josh, who credits his fascination with things like tabletop war games to parents that encouraged a use of imagination. “I’ve done as geeky of a thing as you can think of. I always try to balance that with the side of me that’s an athlete.”
Regardless of haters - even if they are located at Zuffa HQ - Josh Barnett’s achievements mean his relevance is undoubted. Even if he were to receive walking papers from the upper-echelon promotions, Barnett will still find fights and still attract fans. But he sees no reason why he can’t work things out with White – this is, after all, business. “Anything’s possible,” finishes Barnett. “I could fight anywhere. It’s not a problem for me to fight in the UFC or Strikeforce, or anywhere. Fighting is fighting. There’s a ring or a cage and an opponent and that’s it, that’s all I need.”
SLAVE TO THE GROUND
Aside from being a self-described geek for Japanese animation, comic books and tabletop war games, one of Barnett’s biggest vices is a life-long passion for heavy metal. His favorite band? British death/grindcore crew Bolt Thrower. “‘For Victory’ is probably my favorite song of theirs of all time,” reveals Josh. “I listen to it before every single fight.” A friend of the band, he even wore the group’s logo on his fight shorts for his 2008 Affliction bout against Pedro Rizzo, and walked out with their song ‘No Guts, No Glory’ at his back.
A love triggered via the alternatively inclined music tastes of his father, Josh found an audio haven in heavy metal as a child. While he began with records from the likes of British heavy metal icons Iron Maiden during the early to mid ‘80s, by the end of the decade, and through the acquisition of Sepultura’s seminal 1989 thrash classic ‘Beneath the Remains’, a young Josh understandably graduated to more extreme music. “Everything just goes from one thing to the next, and next thing you know you’re putting in a cassette tape of Bolt Thrower ‘For Victory’,” explains Josh.
And he’s not the only MMA fighter who enjoys metal’s adrenaline-fueling blast beats, sweep picking and falsetto screams. Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell’s favorite band is reported to be thrash progenitors Slayer, mohawked welterweight Dan Hardy was sponsored by legendary metal label Earache (once home to influential acts like Napalm Death, Morbid Angel and At The Gates), and former Dream lightweight champion Joachim ‘Hellboy’ Hansen even plays in a metal band during his down time.
