MMA Fighter Bios: JOSH BARNETT

JOSH BARNETT

BORN: Seattle, Washington
6’3, heavyweight

“The Babyface Assassin” has done his fair share of attacking the mixed martial arts world, and has only lost to 3 fighters in the sport—Mirko Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Pedro Rizzo. Rizzo he avenged, and Nogueira he is 1-1 against.
As great as his accomplishments have been, unfortunately some of them have been tainted and stained with asterisks due to positive steroid tests. Nonetheless, it was clear through 1997-2000, that Barnett would be a special fighter in the game. He went 6-0, got called to fight in the UFC and defeated Gan McGee in his debut fight. His KO loss to Pedro Rizzo, would be only a slight derailment of Barnett, who chose to stand with the dangerous striker.
Barnett would defeat Semmy Schilt, Bobby Hoffman and Randy Couture to win the UFC heavyweight title, only to be stripped to testing positive for a banned substance. Barnett would not return to the UFC but find success in Japan, scoring 5 straight wins and getting a crack at fighting in Pride FC. Unfortunately he was defeated twice by Mirko Filipovic, before coming back strong to defeat Kazuhiron Nakamura, Aleksander Emelianeko, Mark Hunt and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira–which was an impressive string of 4 losses which include 3 stoppages. Barnett was riding high but once again Filipovic stopped the American’s momentum by defeating him via strikes in 2006. Another Pride FC victory, this time in his home country of the US, got Barnett back on track. However, Nogueira got his revenge in their rematch and outpointed Barnett on route to a decision win on New Year’s Eve in 2006. But once again Barnett showed why he is one of the best heavyweights of all-time by defeating Hidehiko Yohsida via heel hook submission, outpointing Jeff Monson, knocking out Pedro Rizz and getting a submission win via strikes against Gilbert Yvel. However once again a positive test for banned substanced hurt Barnett’s career, as he would not be able to compete against Fedor Emelianenko in 2009, in what was a golden opportunity for Barnett.
Barnett however remains one of the best heavyweights to enter the sport. Barnett was a great mix of solid submission skill, good wrestling, powerful striking, and a big heart and burning desire to win.

Mixed Martial Arts Titles
UFC Heavyweight Champio
Pancrase Open-weight Champ