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« | Home | »

Josh Barnett: Next fight is in August

By Zach Arnold | May 16, 2009

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So sayeth Daily Sports in Japan, which says that Barnett hasn’t decided which offer to take yet – the Inoki booking at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo, an Affliction booking, or a Pancrase/Sengoku booking.

Prediction time – if Affliction offers him a deal less than his previous fights, he’ll take the Sengoku 8/2 Saitama Super Arena booking and work the IGF show. May as well do it.

Topics: Japan, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 27 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

27 Responses to “Josh Barnett: Next fight is in August”

  1. robthom says:

    Against nobody ranked I’m sure so that he can continue to be rated the #2 HW by offering no evidence to prove it or disprove it one way or the other.

    Meh.

  2. Frank Ota says:

    Like it’s his fault the “ranked” fighters aren’t either available or willing.

    So he should just sit on his ass and wait until someone you deem worthy or a ranked steps up? To hell with fighting, making money or having a career right?

    Meh? Dumbass

    Frank

  3. 45 Huddle says:

    It is comical to see Arlovski and Barnett move up through the rankings throughout the last year or two. Neither has really beaten a Top 10 fighter, but due to others losing, they somehow keep moving up. Really, those other fighters should still be ahead of them, and just because they lost to a higher ranked fighter, doesn’t mean they dip down. Shows why interpromotional rankings are pointless.

    For Barnett specifically, he took 2007 off, and then hasn’t beaten a Top 10 fighter since.

    Plus, there is an added benefit to fighters who don’t compete in the UFC. Fighters can basically take time off fom fighting top guys. Fedor did it for a while. Eddie Alvarez is cashing in on an easier tournament in Bellator. Barnett has done it in the past. That’s not to say that every fight in the UFC is the toughest, but there certainly is a different standard of what they put their fighters through compared to the rest.

  4. Alan Conceicao says:

    Eddie Alvarez is cashing in on an easier tournament in Bellator.

    “easier tournament” than what? Fighting Mark Bocek in the UFC? I’m sure Eddie’s really bummed out that he can’t be 5-6 fights away from a title shot in the UFC.

  5. 45 Huddle says:

    He doesn’t have to be fighting in the UFC to fight better competition in the Lightweight Division. Japan has a lot of good Lightweights, and Strikeforce has two guys.

    He is in a tournament where he was basically the only Top 25/30 fighter. That’s padding your record. Doesn’t mean he can’t lose, but I would rather see him fight one good challenger, then 3 mediocre ones. Those fights do really nothing.

  6. […] se dice, Barnett acepta a quien pone mas dinero en la mesa. Según los rumores, los rivales posibles serian en Affliction, Fedor Emelianenko, y en […]

  7. klown says:

    Shame on Barnett if he fights anybody other than Fedor. Twice shamed if he takes a pro-wrestling “fight”. And triple shamed if his excuse is being paid less than the last time.

  8. doem says:

    he has a lifetime to fight squash matches in Japan. Maybe last chance to fight fedor

    Rumor was in PRIDE that he turned down a fight with Fedor before…

  9. robthom says:

    “Like it’s his fault the “ranked” fighters aren’t either available or willing.

    So he should just sit on his ass and wait until someone you deem worthy or a ranked steps up? To hell with fighting, making money or having a career right?

    Meh? Dumbass

    Frank”

    That you see absolutely no irony in what you typed, I’m sure your devoted to it, proves to me what I’ve been suspecting.

    That Barnett is cherished more as a cultural archetype by a specific, though dominant segment of people, not for his relative skills.

    I wont stoop to debate what you said, it would only get rude.

    Frank”

    That you see absolutely no irony in what you typed, I’m sure your devoted to it, proves to me what I’ve been suspecting.

    That Barnett is cherished more as a cultural archetype by a specific, though dominant segment of people, not for his relative skills.

  10. robthom says:

    ^^My cut and paste got mangled.
    🙂

  11. Zack says:

    “It is comical to see Arlovski and Barnett move up through the rankings throughout the last year or two. Neither has really beaten a Top 10 fighter, but due to others losing, they somehow keep moving up.”

    Sounds like Kenny Florian. What were all his top ten wins again?

  12. robthom says:

    What was barnetts best win?
    The split with NOG?

    As 45 pointed out, the only reason Barnett is moving up again is because the other ranked fighters have been fighting each other, and then get moved down for losing to someone ranked.

    Barnetts shtick on the other hand is to not lose, or win, against anybody ranked. And for some reason, for him alone, this keeps floating him to the top in peoples imaginations.

  13. robthom says:

    “Sounds like Kenny Florian. What were all his top ten wins again?”

    I dont think Kflo is considered the #2 lw by anybody.
    He’s just next in line for BJ in the UFC for putting in the reasonable amount of work against the other contenders.

    If he beats BJ, it still wouldn’t make him a solidified #2 or #1 IMO. But he’ll probably get the honorary #1 for holding the belt and beating the consensus #1.

  14. 45 Huddle says:

    I don’t have Florian in my Top 3.

    If he beats Penn, I think he becomes #1 in the world. Beating Huerta, Stevenson, and then Penn is better then anything else a Lightweight has done in the last 3 years. Especially since Penn looks unstoppable at Lightweight…

    With that said, the LW division is still wide open across the sport, but the UFC’s division is starting to become the best with the rise of Maynard, addition of Samchez, and the inconsistent performances by the DREAM Lightweights.

  15. Mr. Roadblock says:

    I’ve not been impressed by Barnett in his comeback. His only notable win is the one over Nog. That was not an impressive win. First of all it was really a draw and he got the nod in my opinion to insure Cro Cop won the tournament. Then Nog went out and beat Josh in a full fight. Also it’s my opinion Nog has been phoning it in since the 3rd Fedor fight. I think that loss sucked it out if him. That and he looks injured.

    Barnett needs to shit or get off the pot. With the new crop of guys coming into the UFC. Barnett is barely top 10.

  16. Zack says:

    Hunt was also top 10 when Barnett beat him, and he hasn’t lost to a guy who wasn’t top 5 in his entire career. The Nog decision loss was Barnett’s 7th fight of that year which is f’n crazy.

    Florian is #3 in Bloody Elbows consensus rankings which I believe is an average of the top websites.

    I’m not disagreeing with you about Barnett in the notion that others losing has benefited his ranking, but I think Florian is a similar parallel. If he was fighting the powerhouse wrestlers in the division, there’s a shot he wouldn’t be on the run he’s on.

  17. 45 Huddle says:

    I’m not typically one to say a fighter is ducking a competitor, but I think it’s pretty darn obvious that Barnett is ducking Fedor. Style wise, he matches up horribly, and once he loses to Fedor, what is left for him?

    I actually think he got himself in a pickle right now. While Zuffa can be blamed for treating certain fighters badly, Barnett is really to blame for their relationship being sour. So the UFC might not be an option.

    He has really built himself by avoiding the top guy (Fedor), saying he would fight him, but then finding ways not to. However, that is the only huge fight people see left in the Heavyweight Division outside the UFC.

    Either Barnett fights Fedor, gets wrecked, and then is 1-5 against Fedor, Nogueira, & Cro Cop…. Or he doesn’t fight him, and his stock goes way down for ducking the fight…. And without the UFC as an option, and with the Japanese scene in a downward slope, Barnett is out of luck.

    He is Top 10. He is not Top 5. Same thing with Arlovski. Here is another guy, like Barnett…. Who has a great history of beating Top 20 guys, and failing against Top 5 guys. Neither deserve to be in the Top 5.

  18. Frank Ota says:

    Irony? To my knowledge, Barnett fights who is offered. If a top ten fighter won’t step up or doesn’t want the fight for money offered then Barnett is somehow at fault? It’s not Barnett’s responsibility to facilitate fights other than to fight the fighters that the promoter offers. It’s the promoters and timing that determines who fights who.

    All I hear on a Fedor fight is that there is no written offer on the table and no signed agreement. If that’s the case then it’s not really an offer is it? Speculative, oral offers often fall apart because nothing has been done to insure the fight.

    And I think he and Fedor know each other more than a few emails.

  19. doem says:

    I have a feeling that Barnett always wanted to fight Fedor as part of some multimillion dollar Championship match where the two best heavyweight go toe to toe. I think he turned down Fedor before because he knew he was not ready and also it was offered for the US pride show, which he knew wasnt going to be the biggest stage.
    Barring somebody willing to pay him 500K+, I would not be surprised if Barnett never fights fedor.

  20. robthom says:

    “…Or he doesn’t fight him, and his stock goes way down for ducking the fight…. ”

    Goes way up IMO.

    Not my OP personally, but the same important opinions that have enabled him so high so far!

  21. […] CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY […]

  22. Alan Conceicao says:

    He doesn’t have to be fighting in the UFC to fight better competition in the Lightweight Division. Japan has a lot of good Lightweights, and Strikeforce has two guys.

    Fighting in either is not a guarantee he’s fighting better guys.

  23. Grape Knee High says:

    I don’t think Barnett is ducking Fedor. He just has incredibly unrealistic compensation expectations.

    Meh, whatever. While I think there’s a chance he might pose problems for Fedor because of his style and his size, I wouldn’t even notice if I never got to see him fight again.

  24. robthom says:

    “I don’t think Barnett is ducking Fedor. He just has incredibly unrealistic compensation expectations.”

    Thats very true.

    But can you blame him?

    He is the #2 HW in the world for goodness sakes!
    It says so on every top ten list!

  25. robthom says:

    Oh yeah, I was referring to the compensation part.

    He is ducking fedor.

    As long as he avoids fedor he’s still got a chance to beat him in a lot of peoples imaginations.

    If he fought fedor he would lose and his imaginary dominance would fly right out the window.

    Its the same reason he wont fight any top ranked fighter.

  26. Frank Ota says:

    Won’t? If they don’t come then he can’t fight them Rob. That’s far from won’t?

    Is it his fault he was offered Yvel instead of some Andrei, Fedor or someone like that or is it a market/promoter situation?

    You’re flat out ignorant it shows…clear as day. He fought in Sengoku and he fought who they could provide, same as Affliction.

    Frank

  27. Shane says:

    Barnett was offered to fight Fedor at Shockwave 2006 but he turned that fight down and instead chose to fight Big Nog while at the very same show Fedor fought Mark Hunt.

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