Josh Barnett says he'll prove he is the "best grappler in MMA" against Daniel Cormier
Posted on April 2, 2012, 03:43 PM by Joey SantosusStrikeforce Heavyweight contender Josh Barnett, who will meet Daniel Cormier to decided the division's Grand Prix Tournament winner, looks back on his road to the final and talks about using his strengths on the mat to take his opponents out of their "comfort zone." Barnett also discusses the importance of "personality" in the sport of mixed martial arts, and says that fighters shouldn't forget that they are entertainers. Photo: Francis Specker
Josh Barnett
"I'm always training. I'm always in the gym working on my technique and trying to be a better fighter that day than I was the day before. Basically, both (Sergei Kharitonov and Brett Rogers) were very striking oriented, and I went out there and just took them out of their comfort zone. From there, it was just sort of scholastic - putting them in the position I need to be and taking them out. ... I think I'm the best grappler out there, in MMA - especially in the Heavyweight division. But, it's not about talking about, it's about being about. So, I'll just go out and continue to prove such a thing and back my words up."
Further Reading: Josh Barnett talks Daniel Cormier, TRT, and JDS vs. Overeem
Comments
Thats my assessment also Josh, but I've been a fan of yours forever.
The way he made Bret look like an amature in there was just sad. I felt like he was smothering me while he had his way with Rogers. Dangerous for sure. I, however will be hoping for my boy DC to win it. Either way, it should be a great fight.
Josh "georges" Barnett wont take more than 2rounds to submit or stop Cormier
Josh will get out struck on the feet, will desperately look for the takedown , which,by the way, will not come easily at all against Cormier
If however at some point this one goes to the ground, Barnett is extremely dangerous for anyone
He is a great grappler and IMO the best catch wrestler (at a high MMA level) in MMA but he is definitely not the best grappler.
He says he's the best grappler in MMA "especially in the HW div.".
I think he is forgetting Mir, Werdum, Nog and Fedor.
I think there's a few guys such as Cormier, Monson and Lesnar who are just as good grapplers.
Hes a bjj blackbelt who has beaten top guys in bjj competetions (romulo barral, otavio souza). thats how good his jujitsu is. but hes mainly a catch wrestler and hes out grappled big nog in their first fight (when nogueira was said to have the best mma grappling). He might not be the best but hes definitely in the top ten.
and... he outgrappled monson in their fight
I meant they are of a similar grappling level, even if he beats them doesn't mean they're not on his level
Lesnar? Lesnar? wtf man Lesnar?
why not ncaa champ, big ten. grappling is not always jujitsu. sambo, wrestling and jujitsu are all grappling, and if you are an elite at one, that means you are a great grappler. look at mark kerr (a wrestler), he did extremely well in adcc and hes not a bjj fighter, with relatively little jujitsu compared to the people he beat, and with mainly his strong wrestling
one of the best wrestlers in MMA history and a great NCAA champ with an outstanding record.
Wrestling is grappling you know
Barnett has underrated hands too, just about decapitated Pedro Rizo.
Defiantly in the top 3 grapplers in HW division. I say he is tied with Mir and Nog. The Warmaster has an advantage in almost every aspect of the fight game against Cormier, the only thing that is elusive is wrestling. Josh has a striking advantage, grappling, experience. And i think experience will be a huge part of this fight. I don't understand why everybody thinks that DC is a knockout artist, because of Silva. Big Foot seemed totally unprepared for that fight and underestimated DC. After beating Fedor a sense of invincibility gets crushed rather quickly if you don't train like you are fighting Fedor.
Old school vs new School-Cormiers gonna destroy him.
I think he is very chael sonnenesk in his grappling. So i consider him for sure a top 5 grappler. There's different sorts of grappling. BJJ, Wrestling, Catch wrestling etc...
I think his non stop wrestling not letting you breathe type of mma wrestling is top notch.
There are many great grapplers in the current UFC hw division and also outside of it. Most of them have already been mentioned so i wont bother repeating them. I wouldn't exactly call Lesnar a great grappler though, a great wrestler and a great grappler are two very different things even though they both compliment each other. But you can be a great wrestler without being great at grappling but a good understanding of one of them can lead to a good understanding of the other. Anyway, Barnett has been grappling for a long long time now so i'd say he's definately up there at the top for sure but whether or not he's the best is up for debate but only because there are so many good grapplers now, he's definately at the very top though no doubt.......
.........also DC is no slouch either when it comes to grappling, i don't think he's at Barnetts level but he can hold his own. It's his striking Josh has to watch out for more than anything else which i'm sure he knows and is probably why he'll just immediately try and take DC down and sub him, and he'll most likely succeed too imo.......