Josh Barnett – Grand Prix, Space Marine & Strikeforce!
By Dave Carpinello
Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix participant Josh ‘The Babyface Assassin’ Barnett recently talked with PunchDrunkGamer regarding his next opponent in the Grand Prix, the future of Strikeforce and Women’s Mixed Martial Arts, Warhammer 40k, training and whiskey.
PDG: You are facing Sergei Kharitonov in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-finals; what do you think of the match-up?
Josh Barnett: He had a great win over Andrei Arlovski and so a lot of people are really high on him right now which bodes well for the fight. I don’t think he is the best fighter that I have faced in my career although I won’t know that for sure until I get in the cage with him.
PDG: Was there anything that you took from your victory over Brett Rogers that you can use against Sergei?
Josh Barnett: I think that they have similar fight styles in that both fighters want to keep the fight on the feet and try to win with striking. Although Sergei is a lot better fighter all-around than Brett is and he looks like he is really in the best shape of his career right now.
PDG: With the recent changes made to the Grand Prix, Alistair Overeem’s removal and Dan Cormier taking his spot; what are your thoughts on the changes and the tournament going forward?
Josh Barnett: I think it is a real bummer that the Champion Overeem isn’t going to be in the tournament any longer and it will probably diminish the accolades of winning the tournament. Cormier has a lot to show the world, he matches up well with Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva and I have a lot of respect for him. It would be interesting to meet him in the finals and totally unexpected to say the least.
PDG: So are you expecting Cormier or Silva to face you in the finals, granted you defeat Kharitonov?
Josh Barnett: I really think that Cormier has the style it will take to beat Bigfoot.
PDG: With his wrestling pedigree?
Josh Barnett: Exactly, I don’t think that Bigfoot will be able to put him on his back and Cormier is very quick and I think given the opportunity will be able to put Bigfoot on his back against the mat.
PDG: Most people know why Cormier is in the tournament; were you surprised at how Zuffa (UFC Parent Company) released every Golden Glory fighter except Kharitonov?
Josh Barnett: Yeah it was very strange and I wouldn’t be surprised that after I beat Sergei that they release him too. There is nothing that I can do about it and I am a big fan of Marloes Coenen and I thought she did a great job for Strikeforce. For whatever reason Golden Glory management and the UFC don’t get along but maybe they will work something out because there are a lot of great fighters on that team that we are now missing in Strikeforce.
PDG: A lot has been made in the past about your relationship with Dana White; has that changed at all since the UFC purchased Strikeforce?
Josh Barnett: I haven’t talked with Dana in quite some time but I think things are just fine. I don’t ever take things for granted though so I am just going to go out there and make myself indispensable.
PDG: So is it a concern that if you do lose in the tournament that you may be released?
Josh Barnett: It is possible, fighters in the UFC get cut all the time after a loss. Strikeforce is now under the control of Zuffa so you have to keep that under consideration.
PDG: What do you think the future of Strikeforce holds?
Josh Barnett: I really don’t man, things change so radically and so quickly that it would be hard to make a comment about that and have it come true.
PDG: When the UFC merged with the WEC, Dana White said it would be “business as usual” and then two weeks later half of the WEC roster was cut from the UFC.
Josh Barnett: Yeah, exactly and now the whole company has been rolled into the UFC.
PDG: What kind of impact is this going to have for the future of women’s mixed martial arts?
Josh Barnett: It really puts a strain on it because Strikeforce is one of the pre-eminent organizations out there for women’s MMA. It is the biggest stage to be quite honest and although they haven’t featured as many female fights lately they have still been pretty steady with it. Now if Strikeforce gets absorbed into the UFC it is their policy not to allow women to fight so that would basically cripple women’s MMA.
PDG: You train and work with several women fighters; how concerned are they?
Josh Barnett: I would say very concerned.
PDG: Maybe Bellator FC or a Japanese organization could fill the void if Strikeforce ceases to exist.
Josh Barnett: Bellator has done a great job of promoting women’s MMA in the past even though they to are not featuring as many fights this year as they did last year. As far as Japan goes it is a really a damaged market out there right now and the money just isn’t there to pay the fighters like a lot of people think there is.
PDG: Speaking of Japan then, do you think they will be holding major events in 2012 on the heals of the financial problems most of the Japanese companies have endured?
Josh Barnett: If they are not I think that someone else will take there place. I just don’t see MMA dying in Japan to the point that it didn’t exist but they could definitely go through some major shakeups.
PDG: I just think it hard for them to keep any real star power over there if it gets any worse. I mean most of the top Japanese stars are already here and if they had to wait for an extended amount of time to get a fight in Japan the rest of them will most likely follow.
Josh Barnett: That’s true but there are other smaller Japanese organizations that they could fight for while they wait.
PDG: I thought I read that you had a pro-wrestling match coming up later this month; is that still scheduled?
Josh Barnett: I did have one scheduled for the IGF in Japan but it looks like I will be unable to compete because of my Grand Prix fight on September 10th. Not that I was concerned with getting injured but it had more to do with getting the permission from Strikeforce to do the match.
PDG: So when Zuffa bought Strikeforce did your contract change as far as being able to go to Japan to fight in Dream or work pro-wrestling for the IGF?
Josh Barnett: It has always been my option to compete outside of Strikeforce but they had what you could call the final say about it. They were always really easy to work with before but now that management has changed I still need to get permission but I haven’t requested nor have I gotten any offers to fight in Dream. But I don’t think they would be really excited for me to go over and fight for them. The pro wrestling match was scheduled for August 27th and the parties involved thought best that I didn’t participate.
PDG: With just about four weeks until your Grand Prix fight, have you started your final training preparations?
Josh Barnett: I have just been going with it like I always do, training hard, working on my conditioning and I am just going to go in there and put my gameplan into action and stay in his face the whole time. I am still training anywhere from two to five hours a day and that is good for me because as long as you are training hard every minute in the gym it doesn’t take all day. My fight is going to be 15 minutes, 20 minutes at most so a few hours a day better be enough training time.
PDG: A lot of the media said you looked slimmed down and maybe in better shape when you fought Brett Rogers as opposed to your last fight. Did you notice a difference or was there really one at all?
Josh Barnett: Well I am not going to be auditioning to be an underwear model anytime soon but it is always a good thing if I can get a little leaner.
PDG: Speaking of training, it was announced earlier this week that Shawn Tompkins had passed away; did you have much interaction with him and what were your thoughts when you heard the news?
Josh Barnett: I never trained with Shawn but I had met him several times and we always had good words between the two of us and it was very unfortunate news. He has produced some very capable fighters and he made a name for himself with what he brought to the sport of MMA. At 37, that is very disserving for some one that brought so much.
PDG: Let’s get back to some more uplifting talk. Warhammer 40K: Space Machine will be hitting stores soon, are you excited?
Josh Barnett: I am very excited and I have already picked up the Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team which is like a prequel to Space Marine. It is going to be a huge blast as I am a huge fan of all of the Warhammer games and hell even the table top game. I have not pre-ordered it but I will be picking it up.
[hana-flv-player video=”http://videos.punchdrunkgamer.com/videos/Warhammer_40000_Kill_Team_Launch_Trailer.flv”
width=”500″
height=”430″
description=””
player=”4″
autoload=”true” autoplay=”false”
loop=”false” autorewind=”true”
/]
PDG: Besides Kill Team what else have you playing this summer?
Josh Barnett: I picked up this downloadable game called Limbo on the PS3 that is a helluva lot of fun. It is an interesting and strange game that is puzzle based and dark that is really intriguing. I also played the demo for No More Heroes on PS3 that was a lot fun and another puzzle based game called Catherine. It is strange as well; it is like playing in a nightmare that you are trying to escape. It is a very weird game but the concept and the way that it was put together I thought it was well done.
PDG: So for the PunchDrunkGamers out there that enjoy a good drink while watching the fights or playing video games, do you have any recommendations?
Josh Barnett: The Crown Royal Cask 16 is very good and I would also have to recommend Glenlivet 18. Both are pretty damn good choices.
PDG: Let’s wrap this up with some final thoughts on your upcoming fight against Kharitonov; what advantages do you have going into this fight that you will be able to use to win the fight?
Josh Barnett: I honestly believe that I am the better all-around fighter. I definitely have a better ground game but I am also quicker and I have more weapons in my arsenal to handle him. We have faced some common opponents in the past and I have beaten them whereas Sergei has lost to them.
PDG: Thanks for the time Josh; is there anything else you wanted to add?
Josh Barnett: No problem, just follow me on Twitter for updates @joshlbarnett and thanks to my sponsors Whipple Superchargers, Lethal Performance and Toyo Tires.
