Josh Barnett Signs With Strikeforce

Added on Sep 13, 2010 by Bill Jackson in

UFC & MMA

After floating around in relative obscurity for over a year, former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett has officially signed with budding MMA promotion Strikeforce. While Barnett was clearly the best heavyweight in the world not signed to a major promotion, Strikeforce is taking a gamble with the Seattle, Washington native.

In 2002, Barnett became the youngest person to ever win the UFC heavyweight title by stopping Randy Couture in the second round at UFC 36. Later that year, Barnett was stripped of the title having tested positive for three anabolic agents. His career in the UFC ended there and Barnett went overseas to Japan to compete in professional wrestling and eventually Pride Fighting Championships.

When Pride closed its doors in early 2007, Josh was one of the few fighters to not jump ship to the UFC, mostly due to his desire to face No. 1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, who also refused to sign with the UFC. After two impressive wins in Japan, Barnett was offered a fight against former foe Pedro Rizzo for clothing company turned upstart promotion Affliction. Emelianenko was the main event headliner.

Barnett was successful in his Affliction debut, knocking out Rizzo in the second round. He was also successful in Affliction’s second show, stopping Gilbert Yvel in the third round on another card headlined by Emelianenko. This set up a highly anticipated meeting between Barnett and Emelianenko on Aug. 1 2009 at Affliction’s third event, Trilogy.

However, 10 days before the event, Barnett once again tested positive for anabolic steroids and he was out of the show. Unable to find a suitable replacement, the show and Affliction Entertainment were canceled. While the promotion was obviously fledgling and depending on the success of their third event in order to stay afloat, many pointed at Barnett as being responsible for sinking the ship.

Now, after 14 months out of the MMA limelight, Barnett will once again be in the same promotion as Fedor Emelianenko. Though the clash might not be as anticipated as it would have been a couple years ago, it is still a massive fight that will make a very attractive headline for Strikeforce, and these are the kinds of fights they need to be making.

Strikeforce continues to bolster their lineup and Barnett is the best possible addition to their heavyweight roster. Though his fall from grace may still be fresh in the critical minds of MMA fans, Barnett is one of the best in the world and likely will be forced to go through a routine of tests before each fight in America. Strikeforce would be foolish to pass up the opportunity to sign him. They just better not be foolish enough to not have a back up plan leading up to any Barnett fight.