How would Josh Barnett fare in the UFC? |
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REBEL WITH A CAUSE
Career record: 820-501
Season: 20-4 (#127)
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
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Alistair Overeem hasn't spoken publicly since news broke Wednesday that he tested positive for an increased testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. He probably doesn't have to for Josh Barnett to understand what the 31-year-old Dutch heavyweight is feeling right now.
Barnett, of course, paid a heavy price when he failed a prefight drug test in California almost three years ago. Lost was a huge payday against Fedor Emelianenko, then ranked No. 1 in the division and widely considered among the best competitors in mixed martial arts. The loss of the fight was also the impetus for Affliction Entertainment going under, a situation that rattled the business, fostered the growth and subsequent decline of Strikeforce, and eventually led to Zuffa's move to consolidate the industry.
It's unclear what penalties Overeem will suffer, but similar to Barnett (32-5) he could easily surrender a huge payday as well as the most important fight of his career -- a UFC title tilt against Junior dos Santos. Hey, at least he doesn't have to worry about bringing down a promotion, though he might not be around to partake in UFC's continuing prosperity.
Still, with dark clouds currently hanging over his head, Overeem should take solace in the notion of Barnett's return the UFC for the first time in a decade -- the message being: No matter how badly someone messes up, Zuffa is prone to forgive under the right circumstances.
Barnett's new lease on a UFC life is incumbent on defeating Daniel Cormier on May 19 to cap off the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix tournament. If that happens, UFC president Dana White has suggested that the 34-year-old American could enter the Octagon for the first time since stopping Randy Couture in 2002 to claim the promotional title.
How would he fare against the men ranked above him (which for the time being continues to include Overeem)?
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Post #1 4/8/12 3:11:52PM
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Bubbles > jakewalters
Career record: 578-349
Season: 21-3 (#55)
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
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he can easily be a top 10 HW. Don't think he will ever fight for the UFC title though
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Post #2 4/8/12 3:39:23PM
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Chael_Sonnen
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 521-343
Season: 17-7 (#819)
Location: Say My Name
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He would fare fair.
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Post #3 4/8/12 4:24:57PM
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Remember Paul Herrera
Career record: 1017-538
Season: 20-4 (#60)
Location: You think you can tell heaven from hell?
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They pose the opponents of Mir, Velasquez, Overeem, Dos Santos.
Mir - I think his ability to maintain position coupled with submission defense is the biggest factor in this fight when you consider how frequently Mir has had trouble with strong grapplers who can fight off a submission long enough for Mir to wear himself out. I would give the standing edge to Barnett as well, but I think Barnett would finish it with Ground and pound. 75/25
Cain - Barnett won't be able to work his ground game against Cain, since he sprawl-and-brawls at a top level. His attack on the feet is more varied and tactical, and i think he should be able to keep Barnett away from working his base skills. Cain 65/35
Overeem - His discrepancies on the ground and on the floor are evident, and about even. Both can dabble in the other, but the other is an area where their opponent thrives. On top of that Barnett has a vulnerability to the body, and Overeem has a tendency to gas on the bottom. I see the fight as very even. I'll go Overeem 55/45.
Junior Dos Santos - The closest thing to Junior that Barnett has faced was Mirko. He didn't deal well with the speed/power/sprawl combo in any of those fights, and i don't think he would do well with it in this one either. Junior 70/30
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BJ Penn beat Frankie Edgar more times than Benson Henderson beat Frankie Edgar.
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Post #4 4/8/12 4:35:29PM
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Sir_Karl
MMA Sensei
Career record: 860-625
Season: 17-7 (#644)
Location: The Empire State
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I think Barnett could become the UFC HW champion. I feel he has the wrestling and ground skills to hold down and dominate any of the UFC's top HWs.
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Post #5 4/8/12 4:45:32PM
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Bythar
MMA Regular
Career record: 899-455
Season: 21-3 (#83)
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Josh Barnett is really really good. The JDS matchup seems bad though. The striking power and the speed and TDD of Junior will make it look like the CC fights IMO. Reem could maybe pose problems but it isn't an unwinnable fight. Cain is hard, Mir not so much stylistically. He would be top 5. Would love to see him square off versus Werdum to see where he really stands.
However, those athletic commissions and their roid policies...
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Post #6 4/8/12 5:44:35PM
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Slight Reach Advantage
Career record: 428-228
Season: 19-5 (#282)
Location: Ronda Rousey's Guard
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Top 5 & vying for a title. Not sure if he would be a lock to win a belt, but i wouldnt count him out
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Post #7 4/8/12 7:17:36PM
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mrsmiley
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 911-532
Season: 21-3 (#55)
Location: Middletown,OH
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I'd love to see it though it's hard telling how well he'd fair against the upper echelon of the HW pool in the UFC.
I think one thing Barnett has above a lot of other fighters is a real uncanny insight for the fight game and he's still one of the best all around HW fighters out their.
Like a lot of others have said in the previous days,Barnett and Mir would be an amazing match to see. I think a fight like that would actually be harder for Mir to win than Josh just based on the way the two guys fight. To me,Mir (and maybe it's just me) has a tendancy to want to end a fight as quickly as possible(Just forget the CC fight,haha). His style appears less competitive and more as a self defense style to me. Unless Im mistaken I believe it was Joe Rogan who said "Mir uses little man Ju-jitsu at HW."
i think that sums him up well.
Barnett on the other hand seems to just lavish in an all out three round war. I don't think it discourages him when a fight goes past the first or he's in a less vaviorable posistion.
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Post #8 4/8/12 8:42:24PM
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Combat Sport and Fitness
Career record: 375-265
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: Mean streets of Enumclaw, WA
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at best, barnett would break the top 3, more likely to be top 6. never gonna hold the belt in the future
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Post #9 4/9/12 1:57:36AM
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ghandikush
MMA Sensei
Career record: 84-51
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location:
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Posted by prophecy033
Alistair Overeem hasn't spoken publicly since news broke Wednesday that he tested positive for an increased testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio. He probably doesn't have to for Josh Barnett to understand what the 31-year-old Dutch heavyweight is feeling right now.
Barnett, of course, paid a heavy price when he failed a prefight drug test in California almost three years ago. Lost was a huge payday against Fedor Emelianenko, then ranked No. 1 in the division and widely considered among the best competitors in mixed martial arts. The loss of the fight was also the impetus for Affliction Entertainment going under, a situation that rattled the business, fostered the growth and subsequent decline of Strikeforce, and eventually led to Zuffa's move to consolidate the industry.
It's unclear what penalties Overeem will suffer, but similar to Barnett (32-5) he could easily surrender a huge payday as well as the most important fight of his career -- a UFC title tilt against Junior dos Santos. Hey, at least he doesn't have to worry about bringing down a promotion, though he might not be around to partake in UFC's continuing prosperity.
Still, with dark clouds currently hanging over his head, Overeem should take solace in the notion of Barnett's return the UFC for the first time in a decade -- the message being: No matter how badly someone messes up, Zuffa is prone to forgive under the right circumstances.
Barnett's new lease on a UFC life is incumbent on defeating Daniel Cormier on May 19 to cap off the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix tournament. If that happens, UFC president Dana White has suggested that the 34-year-old American could enter the Octagon for the first time since stopping Randy Couture in 2002 to claim the promotional title.
How would he fare against the men ranked above him (which for the time being continues to include Overeem)?
Link
I see Barnett getting knocked out or at least having a ton of trouble imposing those double legs.
Last edited 4/9/12 2:16PM by ghandikush
Edit note/reason: n/a
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Post #10 4/9/12 12:49:32PM
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prozacnation1978
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 993-519
Season: 20-4 (#43)
Location: san diego
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Top 5 for sure
And if he wins grand prix he should get a title shot
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Post #11 4/9/12 2:58:10PM
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bjj1605
MMA Sensei
Career record: 889-537
Season: 20-4 (#531)
Location: Chicago
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Posted by Pookie
They pose the opponents of Mir, Velasquez, Overeem, Dos Santos.
Mir - I think his ability to maintain position coupled with submission defense is the biggest factor in this fight when you consider how frequently Mir has had trouble with strong grapplers who can fight off a submission long enough for Mir to wear himself out. I would give the standing edge to Barnett as well, but I think Barnett would finish it with Ground and pound. 75/25
Cain - Barnett won't be able to work his ground game against Cain, since he sprawl-and-brawls at a top level. His attack on the feet is more varied and tactical, and i think he should be able to keep Barnett away from working his base skills. Cain 65/35
Overeem - His discrepancies on the ground and on the floor are evident, and about even. Both can dabble in the other, but the other is an area where their opponent thrives. On top of that Barnett has a vulnerability to the body, and Overeem has a tendency to gas on the bottom. I see the fight as very even. I'll go Overeem 55/45.
Junior Dos Santos - The closest thing to Junior that Barnett has faced was Mirko. He didn't deal well with the speed/power/sprawl combo in any of those fights, and i don't think he would do well with it in this one either. Junior 70/30
I think that Barnett probably loses to all 4 of those guys. I'd give him the best chance against Overeem.
I disagree about Mir because I think Mir has the better technical ground game and would win the grappling exchanges (except for wrestling.) I also think that Mir is a lot better on the feet. He's faster and more versatile than Barnett is standing and I also think he's got more power.
Just a bad style match IMO.
With Junior it would all come down to whether Barnett could keep him down (which I doubt.)
Cain would have an advantage everywhere IMO.
Reem vs Barnett is basically the same as Barnett vs Dos Santos except Reem would be easier to take down and hold down.
I'd also expect Barnett to lose to Carwin.
Other than that I think he could beat just about everyone.
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Post #12 4/9/12 5:28:47PM
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Travesty145
MMA Regular
Career record: 331-227
Season: 17-5 (#819)
Location: Grand Rapids
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cormier will beat him so...
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Post #13 4/9/12 5:53:29PM
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Remember Paul Herrera
Career record: 1017-538
Season: 20-4 (#60)
Location: You think you can tell heaven from hell?
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I just don't think Mir would be able to sweep Barnett, and i don't see him snatching the submission from half guard.
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BJ Penn beat Frankie Edgar more times than Benson Henderson beat Frankie Edgar.
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Post #14 4/10/12 6:27:09PM
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Boo_Radley21
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 573-405
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: Ontario
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Mir isn't just reliant on his subs anymore though, he can finish it on the feet and muscle his way to a decision.
I see Barnett losing to:
Junior dos Santos
Alistair Overeem
Cain Velasquez
Frank Mir
A good close fight for him would be Roy Nelson or Shane Carwin, although I'd love to see Carwin knock his block off
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Post #15 4/11/12 6:14:40AM
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