How good was/is Josh Barnett?

[Doctor Grudge]

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.

I'm not sure about that one. I don't think Gane would have much of a chance. Especially if Barnett has seen how Gane has been shutdown by wrestling before.

Even though Josh got knocked out by Browne when he was older, he had already stopped big sluggers earlier in his career. I wouldn't really think Pav or Ferreira are gimme fights.

I think he can take Curtis on the feet. Josh was good at spamming kicks, and even though Curtis hits harder, he's not very accurate or high volume. It probably doesn't go to the ground unless there is a scramble, but if it does, Josh is way ahead of him there.

Barnett had competitive fights with some of the best heavyweights of all time.

 

[Crash Lance]

I'm not sure about that one. I don't think Gane would have much of a chance. Especially if Barnett has seen how Gane has been shutdown by wrestling before.

Even though Josh got knocked out by Browne when he was older, he had already stopped big sluggers earlier in his career. I wouldn't really think Pav or Ferreira are gimme fights.

I think he can take Curtis on the feet. Josh was good at spamming kicks, and even though Curtis hits harder, he's not very accurate or high volume. It probably doesn't go to the ground unless there is a scramble, but if it does, Josh is way ahead of him there.

Barnett had competitive fights with some of the best heavyweights of all time.

Josh Barnett and Anderson Silva are drug addicts. In my opinion, all of their titles and accomplishments have serious questions surrounding them.

However, I've mentioned Tim Sylvia (in his best condition) in other threads. In my opinion, Tim Sylvia (in his best condition) makes MMA fights against Cyril, Curtis Blaydes, Tom Aspinall, Derrick Lewis, Stipe Miocic, Jones, and the rest of the UFC Heavyweight Division a lot more competitive than folks think.

I would say the same things about Josh Barnett. Josh Barnett (in his best condition) makes MMA fights against Cyril, Curtis Blaydes, Tom Aspinall, Derrick Lewis, Stipe Miocic, Jones, and the rest of the UFC Heavyweight Division a lot more competitive than folks think.

In my opinion, the UFC Heavyweight Division hasn't made a gargantuan amount of strides and a huge amount of progress over the years. Not nearly as much as users on Sherdog claim it has.

 

[BFoe]

I'm not sure about that one. I don't think Gane would have much of a chance. Especially if Barnett has seen how Gane has been shutdown by wrestling before.

Even though Josh got knocked out by Browne when he was older, he had already stopped big sluggers earlier in his career. I wouldn't really think Pav or Ferreira are gimme fights.

I think he can take Curtis on the feet. Josh was good at spamming kicks, and even though Curtis hits harder, he's not very accurate or high volume. It probably doesn't go to the ground unless there is a scramble, but if it does, Josh is way ahead of him there.

Barnett had competitive fights with some of the best heavyweights of all time.

Agree. If oldass Overeem beat Pav, I don’t see how prime Barnett wouldn’t. Likewise, I don’t see any reason why Barnett wouldn’t do the same thing to Gane that Jones did. I think Josh would be fine against Volkov, probably fine against Jailton. Aspinall and Jones would be trouble, and Blaydes would be pretty competitive.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Agree. If oldass Overeem beat Pav, I don’t see how prime Barnett wouldn’t. Likewise, I don’t see any reason why Barnett wouldn’t do the same thing to Gane that Jones did. I think Josh would be fine against Volkov, probably fine against Jailton. Aspinall and Jones would be trouble, and Blaydes would be pretty competitive.

Yeah, I think he could take Volkov, but I didn't want to look like a retro fan boy. Volkov is pretty good though, not sure if he reached his limit yet. He was kind of prematurely judged to be a lower level gate keeper.

 

[BFoe]

Yeah, I think he could take Volkov, but I didn't want to look like a retro fan boy. Volkov is pretty good though, not sure if he reached his limit yet. He was kind of prematurely judged to be a lower level gate keeper.

Oh dang, I actually think Volkov is kind of past his best. He’s been fighting for like 15 years.
I don’t mind looking like a retro fanboy
HW in particular has never really gotten that great. There’s a few guys in the top 10 that could give Josh problems, but too many imo.