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Josh Barnett comments
By Zach Arnold | July 10, 2006
By Zach Arnold
Here are some comments that PRIDE heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett gave to me in a brief Q & A session.
What are your thoughts on the fighters left in the round of 4 (you, Nogueira, Mirko, and Silva) and do you have a specific guy you want to fight first?
I think that beating any one of those guys is an accomplishment. Beating any two of them in one night will be as big as getting that belt. Nobody will have had a tougher road to a title then we will have. If it is up to me, I would like to fight Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera to prove that I could have been the PRIDE Heavyweight champion when he was the king. Then I hope Mirko Cro Cop makes it through to the finals, so we can fight one more time.
You saw Vanderlei Silva confront Chuck Liddell in the octagon last Saturday after UFC President Dana White announced that the fight would happen in November if Liddell could beat Renato Babalu in August. If Silva vs. Liddell happens, how do you see that fight turning out?
I see Silva vs. Liddell being a bloody brawl and the kind of fight that the UFC wishes they could have on every card. Someone will get knocked out, because neither guy is going to go for submissions. I don’t think the fight would last very long.
On the PRIDE Japanese HP, they are using the theme of PRIDE vs. UFC as an all-out promotional war. If the two companies do have several interpromotional matches, who do you see coming out on top of that battle? Who stands to benefit the most from this situation?
PRIDE would most definitely win an interpromotional war between the two companies. PRIDE has the superior fighters across the board. There are some very tough guys in the UFC like Chuck Liddell and a few others, but the competiton in PRIDE is much more difficult. In the end, I think PRIDE has the most to benefit from this business deal since they are coming to America. With DSE getting airtime on the biggest rival’s show, beating the UFC’s top fighters will make people’s heads turn.
There is a lot of confusion and excitement amongst the Japanese MMA fans about what is happening now both in PRIDE & UFC. What is your opinion about what is currently happening in the fight business, and what do you think will be most appealing to the fans?
I think with every show, the MMA industry is climbing higher in media awareness. The best part about this for fans is that they will be able to see the “dream matches” they though wouldn’t happen because of promtional boundaries. Plus, it will broaden the perspective of mainstream fight fans.
What is coming up on your schedule as far as future activities? Is there anything specific that you would to address to everyone reading this?
I will be in the hardest training regiment of my career to prepare for the finals of this tournament (taking place on September 10th at Saitama Super Arena). Winning this tournament will be tougher than just fighting Emelianenko Fedor. If I can win this tournament, then I will have proved my worthiness as a challenger for the PRIDE Heavyweight belt. That will be another big task, but I know I can accomplish this.
I want to give my support and attention to Megumi Fujii, who won her most recent fighter in Smackgirl in 53 seconds. Her opponent was over 20 pounds heavier than her in weight. Megumi has a MySpace page for her fans to check out at http://www.myspace.com/aaccmegu.
Topics: All Topics, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 3 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Nice work Mr. Arnold.
Zach-san
arigatou&thank you
I translated it to Japanese on my blog.
Josh, I will be watching you WIN the finals! Good Luck, EB