Strikeforce: Overeem vs Werdum Fight Card: Josh Barnett Profile
Bleacher Report’s Blake Dreisbach:
Age: 33
Record: 29-5 (seven knockouts, 17 submissions, four decisions and one disqualification)
Notable victories: Randy Couture (TKO: UFC 36); Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Decision: Pride Final Conflict); Aleksander Emelianenko (Submission: Pride Absolute); Pedro Rizzo (KO: Affliction Banned).
Barnett won the UFC Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Randy Couture at UFC 36 in 2002. He was stripped of the title soon after for testing positive for banned substances and was suspended six months.
He then began wrestling and competing in MMA overseas, fighting in various promotions, including Pancrase, Pride FC, Sengoku, Dream, Impact and Affliction.
He is currently riding a six-fight win streak with notable wins over Pedro Rizzo, Jeff Monson and Gilbert Yvel.
“The Baby Faced Assassin” was scheduled to face the biggest test of his career in Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Trilogy in 2009 but the fight never happened after Barnett tested positive for anabolic steroids. The event and the promotion were canceled in the following week.
The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black-Belt now finds himself fighting heavyweight title challenger Brett “The Grim” Rogers (11-2) in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinals. Barnett is a heavy favorite to defeat the hard-punching 30-year-old.