This Month’s MMA Birthdays: Josh Barnett Turns 40

Brian KnappNov 02, 2017

If Josh Barnett were to walk away from mixed martial arts tomorrow, he would do so as one of the 10 best heavyweights of all-time and one of the sport’s most controversial historical figures. “The Warmaster” will celebrate his 40th birthday on Nov. 10.

Barnett has compiled a stellar 35-8 record across more than two decades of MMA competition, capturing titles in Pancrase and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, multiple suspensions related to performance enhancers have clouded his legacy. A protégé of CSW founder Erik Paulson and the late Billy Robinson, the Seattle native owns victories over Olympic gold medalists Hidehiko Yoshida and Pawel Nastula, former K-1 World Grand Prix winners Mark Hunt and Semmy Schilt, onetime Pride Fighting Championships titleholder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and ex-UFC champions Andrei Arlovski, Randy Couture and Frank Mir. In March 2002, Barnett, then 24, became the youngest heavyweight champion in Ultimate Fighting Championship history by stopping Couture with second-round punches in the UFC 36 main event. He was later stripped of the title after testing positive for a banned substance. It would become a theme throughout his career. In fact, Barnett currently finds himself in a state of limbo, as he was notified in December of a potential out-of-competition violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Others in MMA celebrating a birthday during the month of November:

NOV. 1

Larry Ray, 40
Manabu Inoue, 39
Will Dicke, 32
Lauren Barefoot, 27

NOV. 2

Jerry Bohlander, 43
Munah Holland, 43
Cub Swanson, 34
Josh Clark, 33

NOV. 3

Anthony Ruiz, 40
Mackens Semerzier, 37
Gasan Umalatov, 35
Darrell Montague, 30
Eric Cronkhite, 23

NOV. 4

Kenji Osawa, 41
Rustam Khabilov, 31
J.C. Cottrell, 28
J.J. Okanovich, 27

NOV. 5

Tamdan McCrory, 31
Davi Ramos, 31
Andrew Huffman, 28
Amir Khan, 23

NOV. 6

Demian Maia, 40
Isaiah Chapman, 28
Chase Sherman, 28
Magomed Magomedov, 27

NOV. 7

Curtis Stout, 44
Ivan Jorge, 37
Eric Albright, 31
Veta Arteaga, 30

NOV. 8

Cameron Diffley, 33
Thiago Tavares, 33
Makwan Amirkhani, 29
Jordan Espinosa, 28

NOV. 9

Mike Russow, 41
Sean Salmon, 40
Andre Winner, 36
Marcin Tybura, 32

NOV. 10

Josh Barnett, 40
Katsuaki Furuki, 37
Francis Carmont, 36
David Michaud, 29

NOV. 11

Wesley Correira, 39
Leandro Silva, 32
Lucas Martins, 29
Diego Rivas, 26

NOV. 12

Aaron Brink, 43
Lee Murray, 40
Rudy Bears, 39
Thiago Silva, 35
Jorge Masvidal, 33
Arianny Celeste, 32
Emmanuel Rivera, 31

NOV. 13

John Hosman, 37
Jared Hess, 34
Abubakar Nurmagomedov, 28

NOV. 14

Stephen Bass, 35
Keith Berish, 32
Justin Gaethje, 29
Shannon Wiratchai, 29

NOV. 15

Dylan Andrews, 38
Lisa Ellis, 35
Royston Wee, 31
Josh Shockley, 28

NOV. 16

Delson Heleno, 40
Patrick Cummins, 37
Chris Jones, 36
Benson Henderson, 34
Nicolas Dalby, 33
Tatsumitsu Wada, 29
Yusuke Kasuya, 28

NOV. 17

Emi Fujino, 37
Daniel Stittgen, 37
Dong Hyun Kim, 36
Ildemar Alcantara, 35

NOV. 18

Masanori Kanehara, 35
DeAnna Bennett, 33
John Teixeira da Conceicao, 31
Jordan Johnson, 29

NOV. 19

Gerald Harris, 38
Taro Kusano, 34
Josh Stansbury, 33
Ian Entwistle, 31
Erik Perez, 28

NOV. 20

Rickson Gracie, 59
Gan McGee, 41
Chris Camozzi, 31
Kevin Pearson, 31
Delaney Owen, 25

NOV. 21

Mikhail Ilyukhin, 51
Rodney Wallace, 36
Marat Gafurov, 33
Karl Amoussou, 32
Clint Hester, 31
Thiago Santos, 31
Jorge Lopez, 29

NOV. 22

Roli Delgado, 36
Edilberto de Oliveira, 35
Eduard Folayang, 34
Lukasz Klinger, 34
Daniel Weichel, 33

NOV. 23

Don Frye, 52
Charles Bennett, 38
Vinc Pichel, 35
Jason Saggo, 32

NOV. 24

Mike Goldberg, 53
Mitch Clarke, 32
Josh Hill, 31
Timofey Nastyukhin, 28

NOV. 25

Rob Smith, 46
Mauricio Rua, 36
Alan Jouban, 35
Abdul-Kerim Edilov, 26

NOV. 26

Ediane Gomes, 37
Derek Boyle, 33
Jose Rodriguez, 32
Ruslan Magomedov, 31

NOV. 27

Ryan Jimmo, 1981-2016
Satoru Sayama, 60
Homer Moore, 46
Brian Ebersole, 37
E.J. Brooks, 32
Lukasz Sajewski, 27
Vicente Luque, 26

NOV. 28

Tony Lopez, 44
Shane Howell, 34
Jessica-Rose Clark, 30
Patrick Walsh, 29

NOV. 29

Ricardo Almeida, 41
Costas Philippou, 38
Michal Fijalka, 34
James Hammortree, 34
Jamie Yager, 34
Max Griffin, 32
Adrian Yanez, 24

NOV. 30

Jutaro Nakao, 47
Josh Koscheck, 40
Luke Caudillo, 37
Diego Nunes, 35
Klayton Mai, 31
Ivan Cole, 27