<header class="header"> [h=1]USA TODAY: Former UFC champ Barnett returns to promotion with multi-fight deal[/h] by John Morgan on May 21, 2013 at 11:30 pm ET </header> (This story appears in Wednesday's edition of USA TODAY.) Heavyweight Josh Barnett (32-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) is an Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor once more. USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed with promotion officials that former UFC heavyweight champion Barnett has signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to make his return to the octagon later this year. An official announcement is expected soon. Barnett is currently ranked No. 6 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com rankings and was considered the world's most-talented free-agent heavyweight. His return date and opponent have yet to be determined. Barnett has been fighting professionally since 1997 and made his promotional debut in 2000 with a TKO victory over Gan McGee at UFC 28. He would suffer a knockout loss to Pedro Rizzo in his next appearance before rattling off victories over Semmy Schilt, Bobby Hoffman and UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture. The win over Couture scored Barnett the UFC's heavyweight title, though he was later stripped of the belt in 2002 after failing the evening's post-fight drug test. Barnett spent much of the next six years fighting in Japan, where in 2006 he made it to the finals of that year's PRIDE open weight grand prix before losing to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. In 2008, Barnett returned to the U.S., where he earned victories over Gilbert Yvel in Rizzo under the Affliction banner before that promotion folded up shop. He would later sign with Strikeforce, where he advanced to the promotion's heavyweight grand prix final before falling short against undefeated contender Daniel Cormier. Barnett bounced back with a January win over Nandor Guelmino in Strikeforce's final event. Earlier this year, Barnett and the UFC appeared close to signing a deal, but the talks stagnated and talks briefly dissolved. However, the two parties have now reached an agreement, and "The Warmaster" is now set for an octagon return.
good signing for both side. With Zuffa merging SF with the UFC, they are no serious competitor as far as the hw division goes ( Bellator HW division sucks ) so Josh needed to go there to test himself. And as with boxing, the talent in the hw are few and far between so it was also a must for the UFC to bring him in.
Barnett will be a gatekeeper and nothing more. He's no threat at all to the top fighters in the division. I've always thought he was terribly over rated. His record looks good, but the names on it are pretty terrible. You have to go back to 2006 when he beat Nog to find an impressive win. And spare me the Monsons, Yvels and Kharitonavs, because none of those guys are even close to being top heavyweights. TFK
Barnett will be a little more than a gate keeper, I don't see him losing to guys like Mir, Struve, Nelson, Meathead, Kongo. The only guys I really see him losing to are the top guys. I'd take Werdum, Cain, Cormier, JDS over him. I can't think of any others I would have an easy time picking over Barnett. We might get to see Overeem vs Barnett, which is one of the fights I was looking forward to in the SF Tourney.
i see him beating bigfoot and overeem too. Him vs. JDS will be good too. If he gets JDS to the ground, i think he can win. But seeing JDS in his last fight, i think Josh could stand with him too. But not be as successful.
I think Nelson beats him pretty handily, and possibly Mir, but with Mir, who knows. Meathead and Struve are terrible so beating them means nothing. And Kongo is out of the UFC, so that fight isn't happening. TFK
Endorsed. Barnett is the most despicable cheater currently on the UFC roster. I am pissed that the UFC signed him. Pathetic.
Kongo issued a statement saying the rumors were just rumors and that he's no decided if he's leaving the UFC.
And Barnett is probably the 15th best HW in the world. But he's still a worthless cheat. I think both guys are cheaters.
Let's see how Belfort looks when he fights outside of Brazil. he can't get a TRT exemption in nevada since he's been popped already for steroids and they won't issue one to anyone with prior steroid use.
Probably Overeem, but I wouldn't put any cash on it. I'm not huge on Browne. Overeem should be able to beat him. But he should've been able to beat a very ordinary Bigfoot too. TFK
If the fight makes it out of round one, Overeem probably get's knocked out again. Has anyone seen the recent pic of Overeem that is floating around? He's fucking fat!
Overeem should KO Browne easilly, tough if he come in like a fucking idiot like he did in the bigfoot fight, he could get upset
I think Browne is a very dangerous opponent for Overeem, wouldn't be surprised at all to see him lose this one.
