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Outside of 03-05 peak Fedor who is IMO the greatest fighter ever, I dont think any other HW had a run like that.
This dude went 5-2 with 4 finishes and one near finish against a peak Big Nog who got saved by the bell as he was screaming in agony, fought 7 fucking times in a year with the only mediocre fight he fought being Nastula who got popped for roids. That is ridiculous for even lighter weight classes to fight that much. A HW fighting 7 times? Absolute insanity.
Along with Barnetts ridiculous longevity its one of the reasons i rank him the #4 greatest HW of alltime (behind Fedor, Nog and Fab, tho im still not too comfortable with Fab who has had more favorable circumstances than Josh).
Now lets run through this really quick.
First he beat Nakamura who was a good fighter in his prime. Dude was top 10 and coming off b2b wins over Igor and Kondo, two really good fighters. Got RNCd after Josh styled on him the whole fight.
Then the 06 HW GP started.
Beats Aleks who had only lost to Mirko, americanas him who was fringe top 10 after a tough 1st round. Started getting the better of the standing in the 2nd round and showed how strong his clinch game was (outside of Reem and Werdum, the best clinch game in HW history).
Then in the next round he beats a prime 5-1 Mark Hunt who was top 5 and on a 5-fight win streak beating the likes of Wand and Mirko, as well as decent wins against Kohsaka. Josh kimuras him in 2 minutes.
After that he beats fucking Big Nog, the only non-Fedor fighter beat prime Nog giving Nog his only loss in PRIDE not Fedor. The #2 HW and top 5-10 P4P fighter in the world in the greatest HW fight in MMA history and one of the fights that belong in the GOAT fights talks in general, showcasing arguably the best combination of technical skill in every aspect of any MMA fight in history. Has him screaming in agony at the bell nearly finished.
Then he lost to top 5 Mirko that same night but dude just went through a gruelling physically and mentally/emotionally GOAT level fight against Nog while Mirko had an easy time picking apart a bloated Wand. Josh just wasnt in a condition to beat Mirko with the level he was performing at, end of prime.
A month later he taps Nastula with a toe hold, the only mediocre fighter he fought in this stretch, and who popped for roids (dont think its a big deal personally but alot of ppl do so i just included it).
He lost to Big Nog in the hematch but it was a close fight and Nog almost got a guillotine at one point. His conditioning was the difference as dude had fought 6 times that year so it was understandable, Nog just outboxed him and smartly avoided grappling but Josh got some hard strikes/knees in with his clinch.
Thats a hell of a year by the Baby Faced Assassin. 3 top 10 wins, 2 top 5 including one to the #2 HW and top 5-10 P4P fighter in the world, one fringe top 10 win. 1 of his 2 losses a close one, both his losses can be reasonably explained by his lack of conditioning due to the heavy schedule he took that year as well as going through a gruelling GOAT level war before fighting a ready Mirko who took little to no damage destroying Wand.
Personally i dont get the arguments for any non-Fedor/Nog/Fab HW over him alltime. And im strongly considering putting him over Fab. At his peak he fought evenly with the 2nd GOAT HW and his longevity is fucking insane, top 10 forever it feels like. Josh was a top 2 HW in the world at multiple points in his career, in 06 only trailing an end of prime Fedor before the Mirko fight (and i dont think Mirko was a better fighter than Josh that year, just had very favorable circumstances). After he stopped Handy he was the consensus #2 HW in the world only behind Nog who in following years he beat so on skill/talent he mightve been the best HW in the world at that time tho its obviously extremely close with Nog who was just more proven/experienced.
An in shape 06 Barnett might just be the 2nd best HW Ive ever seen (obviously behind Fedor). Peak Nog and maybe Mirko are the only ones i have reservations about and Barnett was much more wellrounded than Mirko, GOAT level submission grappler, GOAT level top game and transitions, close to GOAT level HW clinch game, good boxing and underrated defense/ head movement. I dont buy peak JDS, Cain or Fab being on that level, those guys fight the same way in every fight outside of Fab recently. JDS and Cain basically only have one approach and havent shown the adaptation/adjustments the other guys have. Peak Sergei is the closest ive seen outside the ones i mentioned before but id take Josh. Reem is up there, insane offensively but his chin and striking defense can be a liability. Plus hes rarely fought guys whod try to take him down @ HW.
IMO top 20 HW peaks in tiers:
Fedor
[gap]
Barnett
Nog/Cro Cop
Sergei
Cain
Reem
JDS
Stipe
Fab
DC
Hunt
Handy
Aleks
Coleman
Murr
Igor
Sylvia
Semmy
Andrei
Anyways with his career coming to an end soon, heres to the Baby Faced Assassin 2006.
This dude went 5-2 with 4 finishes and one near finish against a peak Big Nog who got saved by the bell as he was screaming in agony, fought 7 fucking times in a year with the only mediocre fight he fought being Nastula who got popped for roids. That is ridiculous for even lighter weight classes to fight that much. A HW fighting 7 times? Absolute insanity.
Along with Barnetts ridiculous longevity its one of the reasons i rank him the #4 greatest HW of alltime (behind Fedor, Nog and Fab, tho im still not too comfortable with Fab who has had more favorable circumstances than Josh).
Now lets run through this really quick.
First he beat Nakamura who was a good fighter in his prime. Dude was top 10 and coming off b2b wins over Igor and Kondo, two really good fighters. Got RNCd after Josh styled on him the whole fight.
Then the 06 HW GP started.
Beats Aleks who had only lost to Mirko, americanas him who was fringe top 10 after a tough 1st round. Started getting the better of the standing in the 2nd round and showed how strong his clinch game was (outside of Reem and Werdum, the best clinch game in HW history).
Then in the next round he beats a prime 5-1 Mark Hunt who was top 5 and on a 5-fight win streak beating the likes of Wand and Mirko, as well as decent wins against Kohsaka. Josh kimuras him in 2 minutes.
After that he beats fucking Big Nog, the only non-Fedor fighter beat prime Nog giving Nog his only loss in PRIDE not Fedor. The #2 HW and top 5-10 P4P fighter in the world in the greatest HW fight in MMA history and one of the fights that belong in the GOAT fights talks in general, showcasing arguably the best combination of technical skill in every aspect of any MMA fight in history. Has him screaming in agony at the bell nearly finished.
Then he lost to top 5 Mirko that same night but dude just went through a gruelling physically and mentally/emotionally GOAT level fight against Nog while Mirko had an easy time picking apart a bloated Wand. Josh just wasnt in a condition to beat Mirko with the level he was performing at, end of prime.
A month later he taps Nastula with a toe hold, the only mediocre fighter he fought in this stretch, and who popped for roids (dont think its a big deal personally but alot of ppl do so i just included it).
He lost to Big Nog in the hematch but it was a close fight and Nog almost got a guillotine at one point. His conditioning was the difference as dude had fought 6 times that year so it was understandable, Nog just outboxed him and smartly avoided grappling but Josh got some hard strikes/knees in with his clinch.
Thats a hell of a year by the Baby Faced Assassin. 3 top 10 wins, 2 top 5 including one to the #2 HW and top 5-10 P4P fighter in the world, one fringe top 10 win. 1 of his 2 losses a close one, both his losses can be reasonably explained by his lack of conditioning due to the heavy schedule he took that year as well as going through a gruelling GOAT level war before fighting a ready Mirko who took little to no damage destroying Wand.
Personally i dont get the arguments for any non-Fedor/Nog/Fab HW over him alltime. And im strongly considering putting him over Fab. At his peak he fought evenly with the 2nd GOAT HW and his longevity is fucking insane, top 10 forever it feels like. Josh was a top 2 HW in the world at multiple points in his career, in 06 only trailing an end of prime Fedor before the Mirko fight (and i dont think Mirko was a better fighter than Josh that year, just had very favorable circumstances). After he stopped Handy he was the consensus #2 HW in the world only behind Nog who in following years he beat so on skill/talent he mightve been the best HW in the world at that time tho its obviously extremely close with Nog who was just more proven/experienced.
An in shape 06 Barnett might just be the 2nd best HW Ive ever seen (obviously behind Fedor). Peak Nog and maybe Mirko are the only ones i have reservations about and Barnett was much more wellrounded than Mirko, GOAT level submission grappler, GOAT level top game and transitions, close to GOAT level HW clinch game, good boxing and underrated defense/ head movement. I dont buy peak JDS, Cain or Fab being on that level, those guys fight the same way in every fight outside of Fab recently. JDS and Cain basically only have one approach and havent shown the adaptation/adjustments the other guys have. Peak Sergei is the closest ive seen outside the ones i mentioned before but id take Josh. Reem is up there, insane offensively but his chin and striking defense can be a liability. Plus hes rarely fought guys whod try to take him down @ HW.
IMO top 20 HW peaks in tiers:
Fedor
[gap]
Barnett
Nog/Cro Cop
Sergei
Cain
Reem
JDS
Stipe
Fab
DC
Hunt
Handy
Aleks
Coleman
Murr
Igor
Sylvia
Semmy
Andrei
Anyways with his career coming to an end soon, heres to the Baby Faced Assassin 2006.
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