UFC: Can Josh Barnett Become Heavyweight Champion Again?

It doesn’t feel like that long ago that Josh Barnett was on top of the world in MMA. Not yet 25, fresh off a win over Randy Couture, and with a big shiny belt for his troubles, he was the heavyweight champion of the world.

Then he get busted for PEDs and the UFC cut him loose. He found his way to Japan, where he continued to put together wins in K-1, PRIDE, and other promotions, maintaining himself as a top-end athlete in a sport on the cusp of exploding.

Unfortunately, after that explosion happened and he finally got fights back stateside, he stuck himself again with another failed test ahead of a scheduled fight with Fedor Emelianenko. That failed test basically killed the Affliction promotion, and left people pretty hostile towards The Warmaster.

He ended up in Strikeforce, participating in the Heavyweight Grand Prix and waltzing to the final on the strength of a pair of effortless submission wins. In a sport that’s more “what have you done for me lately?” than probably any other out there, that’s enough to get people talking about him again.

Will he win the Grand Prix? Will he punch himself a ticket back to the UFC? Could he be champion there?

The answer to all three is likely yes.

He’s amassed an impressive pro record of 31-5 in his career, with wins over big names and losses only coming to the baddest heavyweights of all time when they were all in their primes.

Daniel Cormier has become a pretty popular guy and a sexy pick due to his violent stoppage of Antonio Silva, but sleeping on Barnett would be ludicrous.

Winning the Grand Prix, though it likely leads to one more fight in Strikeforce, is a guaranteed UFC contract.

There’s no way the UFC walks away from Barnett, a talented warrior with a penchant for promotion, when he’s hotter than he’s been in ten years. Any beef between he and Dana White seems to have been squashed, which was likely the final hurdle to overcome before a return was possible.

Once he’s in, he can give anyone in the division problems. He’s an excellent catch wrestler, a man capable of closing the gap and bullying opponents before taking them down and bullying them some more.

He doesn’t take you down with an eye on wearing you down, he takes you down with an eye on finishing you quickly and painfully. Any top-5 guy in the UFC would have trouble with that, including big names like dos Santos, Overeem, or Velasquez.

Sitting here today it’s hard to say what the future has in store for Josh Barnett. He’s a tough guy with great talent, but many people seem to ignore him because of his past.

That’s a huge mistake because he has all the tools to be champion again, and if he makes his way back to the UFC with focus and the right mindset, it’s quite likely he’ll prove that point.