Josh Barnett

Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission wrestler, professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA.

Barnett previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the youngest-ever UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Barnett's professional debut was on January 11, 1997, in Washington, against Chris Charnos for United Full Contact Federation.

He accepted the fight with less than two weeks notice while home for winter break after being contacted by organizer Matt Hume, his former high school wrestling coach, and won by submission via rear-naked choke in under three minutes.

Barnett started training in catch wrestling and no-holds-barred with Hume's AMC Pankration team to prepare for his next fight.

After winning, he decided to drop out of university and pursue fighting full-time.

Barnett was required to pass an evaluation involving conditioning, training, and an interview to join AMC.

He would compile a 9–0 record with seven first-round stoppages and wins over future UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn, Bobby Hoffman, John Marsh, and Bob Gilstrap twice.

With these dominant showings, Barnett was invited to compete in the UFC.

Barnett made his UFC debut at UFC 28 on November 17, 2000, against 6' 10" Gan "The Giant" McGee and Barnett won via TKO in the second round. Despite suffering a KO loss in his next fight against Pedro Rizzo at UFC 30 he would bounce back and win his next two fights over 7' 0" Dutch kickboxer Semmy Schilt via armbar submission at UFC 32, and then received a submission win in a rematch with Bobby Hoffman at UFC 34.

Subsequent to his win over Hoffman, Barnett tested positive for banned substances and was given a warning by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Barnett was then given a title shot for the UFC Heavyweight Championship against then-champion and future UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at UFC 36.

He won via TKO after using the ground and pound technique to become the youngest-ever UFC Heavyweight Champion.

However, after the bout it was revealed that he had again tested positive for banned substances and his title was stripped.

Barnett competed in MMA in both PRIDE and Pancrase in Japan.

While in Pancrase, he became the Openweight King of Pancrase by defeating Yuki Kondo.

Winning this title put him alongside the likes of Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock and Bas Rutten as one of the few fighters to be a titleholder in both Pancrase and the UFC.

In his first fight in PRIDE, at PRIDE 28 against Croatian Mirko Cro Cop, he suffered a simultaneous fracture and dislocated shoulder injury that required surgery and over six months of rehab.

His first fight back post-injury was a rematch against Cro Cop at PRIDE 30, which he lost by a unanimous decision.

He came back with a win against Kazuhiro Nakamura at PRIDE 31.

Josh Barnett was scheduled to fight Pride World Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko for the title but withdrew from the fight due to an appendicitis.

Barnett underwent surgery to remove his appendix later that night.

Barnett later beat Alexander Emelianenko by an americana submission in the second round of the PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute.

He submitted Mark Hunt via kimura in the first round of the Openweight Grand Prix at Pride Critical Countdown Absolute.

As a professional wrestler, Barnett made his in-ring debut in 2003 in the main event of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's annual January 4 Tokyo Dome Show, in a bout against IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yuji Nagata.

Since then he has also wrestled for Inoki Genome Federation and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Barnett was the final Openweight King Of Pancrase, a finalist in both the 2006 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix and the 2012 Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship Grand Prix.

He has also competed in Affliction, World Victory Road, DREAM and Impact FC.

Barnett defeated Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira by split decision in the semi-finals of the Openweight Grand Prix, however he lost the final match of the PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute to Cro Cop on September 10, 2006, submitting after an unintentional finger poke to the eye.

In submission grappling, Barnett was an IBJJF no-gi jiu-jitsu world champion in 2009, the Metamoris Heavyweight Champion in 2014, and a catch wrestling world champion in 2018.

In January 2015, Barnett began working as a color commentator for NJPW's weekly program on America's AXS TV.

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Barnett had a troubled childhood and often got into fights.

He was put into anger management programs at a young age and learned to cope with his anger by participating in athletics.

Barnett attended Ballard High School, where he excelled at wrestling, football, and also trained in judo, karate and Muay Thai.

After seeing UFC 2 as a sophomore, he decided that he wanted to be a mixed martial artist.

Barnett had originally attended the University of Montana to play football for the school as a walk-on, but decided to pursue fighting instead.

At the recommendation of an instructor at Montana, Barnett went to train at the Bushidokan dojo of Jim Harrison.

Although he did not have the money for classes, he received training in exchange for helping with maintenance and labor at the dojo.

Before his professional debut, Barnett engaged in mutual combat fights he organized with men via the internet.

They would share information, arrange a location, agree upon rules, and use improvised gloves, often fighting several times as well as training together.