Is Josh Barnett A Forgotten Contender Or A Lingering Legend?

One of the few bright sports in Saturday’s decidedly uninspiring Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum offering was the emphatic victory of Josh Barnett, one of the most controversial and colourful characters in combat sports.


Somewhat out of the MMA radar over the past few years – fighting in lesser known promotions and trying to clear his name after testing positive for anabolic steroids three times – Barnett reminded the fighting world that he is still a major force by rolling over Brett Rogers to advance to the semi-finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament.

Although Rogers’ stock has fallen considerably since his KO of Andrei Arlovski and a game performance against Fedor Emelianenko, the ease in which Barnett took him down and choked him out in the American Airlines Centre, in Dallas was pretty impressive none the less.

And standing 6ft 3ins, weighting around the 250 lbs mark and looking more cut than usual; Barnett certainly looks capable of holding his own against the new breed of super-heavyweight in the current MMA landscape - something that many of his feted Pride contemporaries, namely Nogueira, Cro Cop and Emelianenko, simply haven’t been able to do.

Next up for Barnett is Kharitonov and although the Russian is a far more accomplished fighter than Brett Rogers and a notable KO artist, the American, due to his versatile skill-set, experience and solid chin will enter the contest as the resounding favourite.

And although formidable Dutch striker Alistair Overeem is bookies favourite to take the whole heavyweight tournament many fight fans might well favour the cerebral catch wrestler to throw a spanner in the works.  

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