Before his positive steroid test caused the fight to be scrapped, Josh Barnett was scheduled to fight Fedor Emelianenko in a heavyweight clash of the titans last summer. Now Barnett is just a week and a half away from a return to MMA after more than a year off -- and he's expected to face a slightly easier opponent than Fedor.
Josh Gross of SI.com reports that Barnett is likely to face Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga at Dream.13 on March 22. That's a rather embarrassing step down in quality of opposition for Barnett, and a reminder of just how far Barnett has fallen since eight months ago, when he was regarded by many as the No. 2 heavyweight in the world and a real threat to Fedor.
Mighty Mo, for those who don't know, is a 39-year-old kickboxer from American Samoa who has a 3-1 MMA record and has never beaten anyone remotely credible; the three guys he's beaten have a combined record of 31-33-3.
Barnett vs. Mighty Mo is, basically, a joke, but it's a joke that will draw a fair amount of attention in the MMA world simply because Barnett isn't that far removed from being an elite heavyweight. Beating Mo doesn't do anything for Barnett, but for Barnett, this is all about getting back into the ring. Maybe it's a step toward getting back into the ring against an opponent who's actually credible.
Mighty Mo vs. Josh Barnett Likely for Dream 13
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3/11/2010 7:00 PM ET By Michael David Smith
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- Michael David Smith
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Read More: DREAM News Dream+13, Dream.13, Dream13, Josh+Barnett, JoshBarnett, Mighty+Mo, MightyMo
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Whatever, I'd like to see how many UFC fighters would pass a steroid screen a month before their fights.
Not to condone steroids, but let's just accept them as reality instead of pretending. It could be argued that steroids are actually a detriment to one's mma performance, as they reduce mobility drastically by quickly giving you more muscle in a manner that throws off your sense of balance. Ubereem is a more dangerous kickboxer nowadays, but he doesn't look nearly as dangerous mma-wise to me as he used to in terms of movement.
what an awesome fight. really. i was a big fan of mighty mo, that dude has some of the best ko's in all of combat sports. that huge overhand right sledgehammer. omg! if he catches barnett with it, it's sleepy time. awesome!!
This may not get posted, but the first guy's (now gone) post was perfectly legitimate and I don't appreciate the redacting of my own post.
Why wouldn't a guy who has been out for a year not take an opponent like this to get back into it?
I have a question about the steroid testing. Doesn't everyone get tested after the event? And wouldn't the test pick it up if they did it a month before?
What did the previous post say that was so bad they deleted it?
Fedor Emelianenko vs Josh Barnett would be a very interesting match.
so brock should fight a no good bum when he returns ater a year layoff
I wouldn't have a problem with it especially after what Brock went through.
Thats fine if Brock wants to fight a Bum first then let him give up the belt !!!!
That is why they are having an intrim champion.