NEWARK, N.J. – In 2002, Josh Barnett was just a month removed from winning the UFC heavyweight title when he jetted off to Hawaii to check out the “Superbrawl” heavyweight tournament.
Barnett had won that promotion’s tourney two and a half years prior. While there, one of the tournament’s fighters approached him looking for some advice. Turns out the fighter who came up to him was a 20-year-old Ben Rothwell, and Barnett hasn’t forgotten it.
“I remember meeting Ben way back at the ‘Superbrawl’ heavyweight tournament …,” Barnett said earlier this week. “And he was just a kid then, looking up to me. He’s no longer a kid. He’s not coming for advice. He’s coming to take my head off. All things come around in their own way. Back in the day, sure (he asked me for advice). He was literally a kid, and I was already the UFC heavyweight champion.”
For the record, Barnett is only four years older than Rothwell, and at the time of their meeting in Hawaii in 2002, they had nearly the same amount of pro experience. But that all goes out the window today when Barnett (34-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC) meets that former kid, Rothwell (35-9 MMA, 5-3 UFC), in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 18. The card takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Barnett is No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings; Rothwell is ahead of him at No. 6 and riding a three-fight winning streak of stoppages. So Barnett knows he’s got a dangerous foe in front of him.
“How could you not be? He’s got a (three)-fight winning streak, heavy hands – he’s always been a tough guy. He’s a juggernaut,” Barnett said.
But if it’s a title fight Barnett is after – a win over Rothwell would give him four victories in his past five fights – he knows he has to do his talking in the cage.
“It’s really more about my performance than anything else,” he said. “I’ve got to beat Ben. If I don’t beat Ben, none of that means (expletive). I’ve got my work cut out for me, and I’m glad to have someone as tough as Ben to go and test myself against. There’s no point in trying to work over a bunch of bums and claim yourself to be the best.”
Check out the video with Barnett above. And below, hear “The Warmaster” talk more about his fight with “Big Ben.”
For more on UFC on FOX 18, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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