On Saturday night, Josh Barnett returned to Strikeforce for the organization’s final event. With only two heavyweights on the roster, Strikeforce had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find an opponent for Barnett without borrowing talent from the UFC.
The man they landed on was completely unheralded Nandor Guelmino.
Odds makers had Barnett pegged as a 16-to-1 favorite entering this contest and rightfully so. “The Warmaster” completely steamrolled Guelmino and secured a choke to end this fight 2:10 into the first round.
What we’ll remember about this fight
The fact that it was a ridiculous mismatch. Barnett was dominant from start to finish, despite having the flu on fight week. There is no excuse for this fight taking place in the first place, let alone when you consider that it’s been on the books for months.
What we learned about Josh Barnett
Absolutely nothing. This is a former world champion with nearly 40 professional fights. Taking on a 37-year-old fighter who had never been in a major organization, Barnett did exactly what he was expected to do by steamrolling his opponent.
What we learned about Nandor Guelmino
Let’s be honest here. Aside from potentially seeing his name in a fighter database, until Guelmino signed on for this fight, you had probably never heard his name. All that we learned about Guelmino in this fight is the fact that he exists.
What’s next for Josh Barnett
The UFC, hopefully. There is no reason to believe that Dana White is going to hold a grudge from more than a decade ago. Barnett has won nine of his last 10 fights which mostly came against notables.
Hopefully, Barnett is matched up up with a fellow grapplers like Big Nog, Fabricio Werdum or Frank Mir in 2013.
What’s next for Nandor Guelmino
Back to the independent circuit. It’s fairly obvious that Guelmino was signed on strictly so Barnett could appear on this card without rematching Cormier.
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