With “Cro Cop” jumping to the UFC the winner of this bout will certainly meet the Russian champion in 2007 — for Barnett, it would be his first encounter, while it would be the fourth try for “Minotauro” to earn a win.
Given the fact Barnett won the last meeting (albeit by split decision) the PRIDE brass would likely prefer to see a fresh match-up with the “Baby Faced Assassin” and Emelianenko. With Filipovic, the only man to beat Barnett in PRIDE (he beat the American three times), out of the picture, this fight could be all that is standing between him and his title shot.
Josh Barnett (Pictures) is a former UFC heavyweight champion, former Pacific Northwest super heavyweight Pankration champion, the winner of the Super Brawl 13 eight-man tournament and the Open-Weight King of Pancrase.
Barnett (20-4-0) met first met Filipovic on Halloween 2004. He was submitted after sustaining a bizarre injury, and met “Cro Cop” again one year later. Though the bout went the distance and Josh had redeemed himself from the first meeting, he was dominated by the Croatian striker. Barnett would win his next three fights by submission.
Advancing to the semifinals of the PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix tournament in September of this year, Barnett faced Nogueira. The pair battled for three rounds and though both men had their moments, it was Barnett who had his hand raised that night.
He moved on to face Filipovic in the final bout for the title. It appeared as though little had changed. Mirko broke down the submission fighter on the feet and stopped him with strikes in the opening stanza.
A bout with promising heavyweight prospect and Polish judo hero Pawel Nastula (Pictures) a month later in the inaugural U.S. PRIDE event showed Barnett was not content to sit by and wait to see if and when he would be back in the heavyweight picture. He stopped Nastula with a toehold midway through the second round.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt training with the Brazilian Top Team. Nogueira, (28-4-1, 1 NC) is the former PRIDE heavyweight champion, and at one time held several other titles to his name.
“Minotauro” debuted in PRIDE by defeating the former gatekeeper of the heavyweight division, Gary Goodridge (Pictures). Nogueira then faced Mark Coleman (Pictures) and quickly armbarred the UFC legend, setting up a bout for the heavyweight championship against Heath Herring (Pictures) at PRIDE 17.
This was a war and had everything you could hope for in a title bout. Nogueira claimed his title and would go on to submit opponents until facing Fedor for the first time.
The first meeting was disaster for Nogueira, as he was dominated by Fedor and was visibly distraught afterwards. Rodrigo rebounded with a win over Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) and a submission against “Cro Cop” in an entertaining battle to end the year. Rodrigo opened 2004 by going 3-0, with only a bout against Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) going the distance.
His rematch with Fedor resulted in a No Contest due to a cut suffered by the Russian. There was controversy with some feeling Nogueira should’ve gotten the victory. They met for a third time on New Year’s Eve 2004 and Fedor won another decision. Nogueira would win four bouts in a row to follow (three by submission) and then lose a split decision to Barnett in the semis last September.
It’s a tough call but I’m going with Barnett. They’re both in their early 30s, but Nogueira has fought at a higher level for a long time and certainly has more miles on him. Nogueira also has an extra month’s rest, but I’m still not confident he will be able to compete at the top level for much longer without a significant break. It is rare to see “Minotauro” exhausted in the ring, but in the Werdum fight he looked spent. Barnett’s performances have shown a steady improvement and he appears to be peaking. Barnett by decision.