Interview with Josh Barnett

 

By Aundre Jacobs

 

How’s the training camp gone for Saturday nights fight?

Training has gone really well.  I don’t really have any injuries so it’s gone pretty good. I’ve been training in California as usual, so I haven’t done too many different things.

Obviously you’ve been in the industry for a number of years, how has the sport progressed since you began your career?

There’s a much stronger notoriety and presence from when I started. It’s more of a TV product now than a combat sport. The new regulations are great and they help us from working with shady promoters, not getting paid and all that sort of stuff.

I feel like the individuality of the sport has been reduced a little bit though. It doesn’t really resemble the sport that I grew up with.

Why do you think it’s less of a combat sport now and more of a entertainment product?

Well, anytime you try and bring something to the next stage like what is happening with MMA right now and the infusion of money gets into it, people will have to make sacrifices for the sake of it becoming mainstream.

The first fight with Brett Rogers seemed pretty easy, was the plan to take him down and beat him on the floor?  

The only game-plan I had for Brett was to go out there and fight him, and just remember that sooner or later he’s going to screw up. There was no way that I wasn’t going to be able to put him somewhere that he didn’t want to be and it just happened to work out that way.

You and Sergei have both fought in PRIDE when it was still around. Was he someone who was always on your radar and how has he progressed from the times that you saw him in PRIDE?

I don’t really think he’s any different from the fighter he was in PRIDE and I expect the same thing from him. I always knew he was a high level fighter and I didn’t mind if I thought him, but we never got the chance to cross paths in PRIDE.

One of the most interesting things that came out of the Brett Rogers fight was your promo. What did you exactly mean by “Hard Times”?

I meant that it was difficult not having the opportunity to go out there and compete, not being able to fight at events on a regular basis and just being in MMA limbo for such an extended period of time.

What was it like during that time, especially when you’re a coach for someone else (Megumi Fujii)

You know, it’s hard watching someone who is your student fight, because you can’t go in there and do anything for them. You just have to let it happen. It was difficult to sit back and want to go out there and compete, but you never know what’s going to happen.

Your promo was something of an ode to Dusty Rhodes. Of all the wrestlers in the world, why was there a tip of the hat to Dusty?

I loved Dusty Rhodes when I was growing up. He’s one of those guys who could cut a promo and leave something stuck in your mind for years afterwards. It all seemed to fit pretty well at the time.

As someone who is considered to be one of the best promo guys in MMA, why do you think it’s so difficult for other fighters to cut a promo like you do?

Everybody has their own personality and not everybody is meant to go out and cut a promo the way that I cut a promo. Some of the aspects of fighting bled into the entertainment world, but some guys are just fighters and that’s where it stops.

That’s cool, but you need to find a way to make your own personality shine in your own way of doing it. Personally, I like to get up there and take the microphone. I figure that it’s my fifteen minutes and it’s my stage, so I’m going to use it anyway I want to.

What do you think creates a great promo?

First of all, you need to know what you’re saying. You can’t just go out there and start blurting stuff out. Anything you need to say has to have a point, you need to stick to that point and if you get away from it, get back to it.

It’s easier said that done, but you can’t just go out there and ramble on otherwise people are going to be like “What the fuck?” and it’ll just annoy people.

Who do you watch for great promos in wrestling now?

Stone Cold Steven Austin obviously isn’t really competing anymore, but he does a really great promo. So does The Rock. I’m not all about the way some promo’s are done. Some of the newer guys and the current guys in the WWE, they can do a good job on the mic, but it’s so gimmick orientated now.

You have to do your catchphrase and the little things that you put in there. That just gets old you know. Hearing people say “jabroni” or some phrase that they need to go back to – I’m not into that too much.

However, the greatest promo that I’ve seen recently that was all off the cuff was a segment from Stone Cold Steve Austin on the Tough Enoughshow. He would just go out there and just say some of the most brilliant shit I’ve ever heard. I would just sit there, waiting to see him cut promo’s over people.

I’m also a fan of CM Punk. I really dig his promo’s. He’s not one of those guys who is always going back to a little catchphrase or trying to get people to grasp onto some simple little gimmick. He just talks and it’s so refreshing.

What do you think is dangerous about Kharitonov?

He has a much more well-rounded game than Rogershas, a much better skillset. He’s a better striker and has a much better chin. He’s heavy-handed as well and highly experienced so I really have to watch out for all those sort of things. He’s not going to get flustered. If I rattled off a few shots on him, he’s not going to lose his shit, so I have to keep working you know.

Those guys are a lot more difficult to deal with compared to Brett. Sometimes it can work against them as they are more predictable, and fighters who are less predictable can be more difficult. I think Sergei is going to finish up his training and be on point.

There was a recent interview with Krzysztof Soszynski  where he said that 80%  of fighters are on some sort PED? With all your experiences and the amount of years that you’ve been in the industry, what do you think about that statement?

To me, it’s never really been an issue whether or not guys or on PED’s. Even when I’ve known it was the case, I’ve always felt “There’s no magic anything, that’s going to help you kick my ass tonight, and if there is something I hope you find it because it would make it more interesting for me to beat your ass while you’re on it.”

At any professional level, people are going to try and look for anything that will help them to be at their best and to do it for as long as they can do it for as well. You get a late night cram session that you need to get through with your exams and you take a couple caffeine pills to keep you
awake.  It’s a moral line really.

Girls with small boobs want to get big ones.  Some people think “Well those boobs are going out and hurting anybody”, but I’ve met some of these girls and they use them for some evil purposes (laughs).

Krzysztof is fine to say that and he’s coming from experience himself. He was a professional wrestler as well, so he’s coming from a place where he can talk about it.

Thanks for your time Josh, was a pleasure, have you got anything to say to your UK
fans?

To the UK fans, I just want you know who the fucking governor is! There ain’t nobody
harder than this man and I’m gonna have a brewski and I’m gonna go out there and try and break his back (All said in an English accent)

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