How good was/is Josh Barnett?

[Doctor Grudge]

I can't agree with you on prime Cain being number 1# I just don't see, look at his fight with Kongo he was in his prime got dropped and stunned a few times had to take it down and won a decision this goes to what I was saying about his head movement its terrible, JDS also beat him the first time due to lack of head movement just my opinion.

Getting your head blasted off by a kickboxer doesn't seem that bad.

Fedor nearly got knocked out by Fujita, and Crocop was knocked out by Kevin Randleman.

 

[TheGreatA]

He was one of the best when he was on the gas.

 

[Elvis.]

Incredible grappler, top 10 all time
In 2006 he fought Nakamura, Alex Emelianenko, Hunt , then in the same night beat Nogueira and lost to Cro cop , then submitted Olympic gold medalist Natsula , and then 3 months after beating Noguiera granted him a rematch and fought him again .

 

[Deleted member 449757]

Josh Barnett is the GOAT

 

[scorpiorising]

In the prime steroid era, you knew he'd either win or be close in all his fights.

That's not a slight at him, they were mostly all on stuff. Great fighter.

 

[TRYHARD 2001]

Incredible grappler, top 10 all time
In 2006 he fought Nakamura, Alex Emelianenko, Hunt , then in the same night beat Nogueira and lost to Cro cop , then submitted Olympic gold medalist Natsula , and then 3 months after beating Noguiera granted him a rematch and fought him again .

Remember too that the loss to Cro Cop was via eye gouge. It didn't really matter, CC had his number (even outgrappled him in their second fight!) but doesn't change the fact he won dirty.

 

[Royce Greasy]

Getting your head blasted off by a kickboxer doesn't seem that bad.

Fedor nearly got knocked out by Fujita, and Crocop was knocked out by Kevin Randleman.

Those 2 examples don't feel the same to me especially the Fedor one because its a fact that you can get clipped even by someone who isn't your equal in striking exchanges, that's the thing about boxing you can be super skilled and some lesser skilled guy can KO you case in point KJ Noons who was a pro boxer and handled Nick Diaz got KO'd stiff by Krazy horse.

Fedor got clipped during an exchange that was the definition of a lucky punch because Fujita couldn't even capitalize also Fedor is a fighter that moved his head really well and had great foot work, the Cain/Kongo situation was different imo because Cheick was tagging Cain like crazy and I believe its because Cain doesn't move his head well and is kind of flat footed.

Mirko/Randleman again its the luck factor in striking at play here where as with Cain he's been stunned multiple times because of head movement, I prefer wrestling and bjj because of the luck factor that is present in striking arts.

 

[Royce Greasy]

Remember too that the loss to Cro Cop was via eye gouge. It didn't really matter, CC had his number (even outgrappled him in their second fight!) but doesn't change the fact he won dirty.

There's the eye gouge but don't forget the opponent Barnett had to face before making it to the finals, I'd say having to face prime Nog is much more of a challenge than prime Wand any
day and Mirko absolutely starched him where as Barnett had a serious war with Nog before having to face a pretty much fresh Mirko in the finals, I can remember it looking as though
Barnett was tanked entering that fight.

 

[JBJisGOAT14]

Prime Josh would be Top 3 in today's Heavyweight Division

Bro stopppppp. He would lose to everybody in top 8.

 

[Royce Greasy]

Incredible grappler, top 10 all time
In 2006 he fought Nakamura, Alex Emelianenko, Hunt , then in the same night beat Nogueira and lost to Cro cop , then submitted Olympic gold medalist Natsula , and then 3 months after beating Noguiera granted him a rematch and fought him again .

I personally thought he won the rematch against Nog.

 

[that Indian]

pretty damn good/not so good

 

[Savant21]

He destroys all 3 of those guys with Gane posing the most problems because of his elusive striking style but still Barnett gets him, he was a master grappler.

I wouldn't say Tom has been tested yet he only really beat 4 top guys and that's not an insult just a fact and I believe he is number 1 at HW at the moment, as for Barnett against Jones
that's an interesting fight I'd see Jones as more athletic but remember Barnett is a fully rounded fighter good everywhere especially the clinch I personally think it goes to decision
with Jones being the winner, don't forget though Jones is not tested against HW's and you could 100% expect that those sort of fights would be much tougher than anything he ever experienced facing LHW where he was 90% of the time the larger man and the times I believe he lost were the times he faced fighters with similar physical attributes.

It's hard for me to see Jon beating a Prime Josh besides just fighting on the outside (a stick & move strategy). Jon get's most of his takedowns via the clinch, trips, throws, etc. Sure DC threw Josh around, however, DC was shorter & stockier so was able to out-wrestle Josh that way (plus Barnett was nearly outta his prime by then). Jon mostly bullies his opponents via the clinch to get takedowns & I don't see him bullying Barnett in the clinch or using his size to get the takedown. I dunno, Jones has never been tested against a grappler who's his frame/height & naturally heavier than he is. A prime Barnett or Werdum (even Big Nog maybe?) would be really tough matchups for him IMO.

 

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

And why couldn’t he ever get a ufc streak off the ground in the modern era?

Really good but he had all those ped violations

 

[Croaker]

Bro stopppppp. He would lose to everybody in top 8.

Yeah, he'd lose to guys you couldn't even name without a sheet telling you their rankings lmao

Fuck outta here, heavyweight is absolute dog shit.

 

[JBJisGOAT14]

Sure off the top of my head he would lose to Gane, Blaydes, Jones, Aspniell, Volkov, Pav, Francis, big Brazilian champ in PFL. He would barely be top 10 and I know I’m missing a few that would beat him as well.

 

[RichardHarrow]

Will always like him for teaching Lombard a lesson.

 

[Trabaho]

Top 15 best of all times at HW.

 

[Trabaho]

Sure off the top of my head he would lose to Gane, Blaydes, Jones, Aspniell, Volkov, Pav, Francis, big Brazilian champ in PFL. He would barely be top 10 and I know I’m missing a few that would beat him as well.

Noob.

Kharitovo is better than Pavlovich. It's just different eras. He beat Sergei K. Pfl champ lost to Delija. Josh is so ahead of them. Sure Pfl champ got chances. But Josh proved himself already.

 

[JBJisGOAT14]

Noob.

Kharitovo is better than Pavlovich. It's just different eras. He beat Sergei K. Pfl champ lost to Delija. Josh is so ahead of them. Sure Pfl champ got chances. But Josh proved himself already.

I don’t care about your history lesson sir. You asked who would beat Josh in today’s top 10 and I gave it to you. Josh would barely be in top 10-15 in today’s landscape.

 

[Royce Greasy]

It's hard for me to see Jon beating a Prime Josh besides just fighting on the outside (a stick & move strategy). Jon get's most of his takedowns via the clinch, trips, throws, etc. Sure DC threw Josh around, however, DC was shorter & stockier so was able to out-wrestle Josh that way (plus Barnett was nearly outta his prime by then). Jon mostly bullies his opponents via the clinch to get takedowns & I don't see him bullying Barnett in the clinch or using his size to get the takedown. I dunno, Jones has never been tested against a grappler who's his frame/height & naturally heavier than he is. A prime Barnett or Werdum (even Big Nog maybe?) would be really tough matchups for him IMO.

I think Jones could win by staying on the outside and outpointing Josh, I don't see Jon finishing him at all.