Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett is one of the best mixed martial arts fighters in the world. Born on the 10th of November, 1997, Josh has been nicknamed the Baby Faced Assassin. Born in The United States of America, Josh currently resides in Japan and his home town of Seattle, Washington.

Barnett is one of the few fighters who have had both success in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) and Pride Fighting Championships.

Barnett’s rise to fame in the mixed martial arts scene came when he became the youngest heavy weight UFC champion in 2002 by beating the highly regarded Randy Couture. Josh dominated the fight both on the stand-up and the ground. However after failing a drug test his licence was suspended and was temporarily banned from fighting in the UFC. Following the ban, Josh moved abroad where he fought in Japan both for Japan Pro Wrestling and the Pride Fighting Championships.

Josh’s fighting record is impeccable. His only loss in the UFC comes from Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo through a knockout. Some believe this only happened because Josh wanted to trade blows with a world class striker. His other three losses come from one man, Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic. Josh has fought some of the best MMA fighters and won and his record includes victories over fighters such as Randy Couture, Yuki Kondo and the one and only Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Josh Barnett beat Antonio Nogueira through a close fight decision in the semi finals of the Pride Fighting Championships, and then lost the final match of the PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute to the Croatian mixed martial artist Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović on 10. September 2006. This was “The Baby Faced Assassins” third consecutive loss to “Cro-Cop” and second due to submission.

In many peoples eyes Josh Barnett is the premier US mixed martial arts fighter in the world. What is going to be interesting is when Pride and UFC allow flexibility in their contracts which will allow fighting to take place between these two main MMA organisations.