Barnett: Line the SOB UFC heavyweights up, I’ll put their heads on a pike
Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is making his tournament debut this weekend when he faces Brett Rogers in an…
Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is making his tournament debut this weekend when he faces Brett Rogers in an opening round match-up in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Josh Barnett on the Sherdog Radio Network’s Savage Dog Show.
Plain and simple, I’m the best fighter in this tournament. I’ve got the most experience. … I’ve been fighting longer. I’ve been in the sport longer. I’ve fought all the top guys, and the fact that some of these guys in the tournament are the top guys now, well, they weren’t the top guys when I was fighting. A lot of the top guys I fought were the top guys for years, some near a decade. Just because you got into the upper echelon just now — we’ll see how it turns out later on in life. I’ve got the biggest skill set and I think I’ve got the best overall, all-around ability and I’m just the meanest, angriest, most bloodthirsty bastard out of them all.
I think it’s Overeem’s fight to lose (vs Werdum). … But one of the things about this tournament is how will he handle having to fight some guys that can take him further into the rounds? I want to see that myself because he really hasn’t had anybody push him for a while here. With Werdum, it’s a matter of control. He needs to control the fight and keep it standing. It’s not that I don’t think he has the ability to grapple with him on the ground. I think he does, at least to be defensive, but that’s where Werdum wants it to be. That’s where his best odds are, so best to not give him any of that opportunity whatsoever. He was actually doing really well the first time they fought, and just by sitting in his guard, got submitted with a very simple hold. I don’t think it would go that way this time, but it’s just best not to even give that kind of opportunity to a jiu-jitsu guy like Werdum.
One, don’t let (Brett Rogers) hit me. And two, just put hands on him. Hit him first, hit him last and wherever he wants to be, take him out of that. Take his skill sets away and put him under my control. Even if we’re on the feet, if I’m tearing him up with techniques that he can’t really defend … if I’m taking advantage of all his mistakes and any openings that he’s giving me, then that’s where I’ll keep the fight. I’m going to put him somewhere that he doesn’t want to be no matter what.
I’d like to see Alistair at the end of all of this just because he has done such a great job in the recent years and winning the K-1 is a great accomplishment, really commendable. He’s at the top of his game. People see him as this unstoppable juggernaut right now, and that’s what I want to jump in there with. That’s what I want to fight, a guy that people think is unbeatable.
There’s no way for me to make those fights (vs UFC fighters) happen. If there are those opportunities out there, just line the son of a b—–s up and I’ll just put all their heads on a pike and use them to decorate my fortress.
Josh Barnett on MMAWeekly Radio
I absolutely believe that the winner of this tournament is the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. Anybody that comes out on the top of this has the experience, or got the track record, and it will be proven without a doubt. I think I’m fighting in the toughest collection of heavyweights just about ever assembled. To say otherwise would be a real travesty, and would definitely show bias.
(Rogers is) still fairly young, not real young to this sport, but he doesn’t come there with the pedigree that I do. So, by all means I should take him out, but nothing’s to be said until the fight actually goes down, and anything can happen out there in the ring.”
He’s far from being one of the best guys out there in its entirety. What I mean by this is to be consistently one of the best guys. I think if he touches you he can knock anybody out, but I don’t think even he would be willing to say that he’s acquired all the skills that are necessary to be the best fighter in the world at this point.”
Josh Barnett meets Brett Rogers this Saturday night in Dallas, live on Showtime.