UFC heavyweight Barnett steals show with elaborate production

NEWARK, N.J. — Most Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors use the workout portion of media day to go through a quick round of shadow boxing or hitting pads with a trainer.

Others go the extra mile and work up their last real sweat of the week with weigh-ins and fight day on the horizon.

Then there's Josh Barnett.

The former UFC heavyweight champion has a passion for professional wrestling and has taken to participating in the endeavor on the side. He also has brought a flair for the dramatic from that world to his open workout performances, cutting some memorable promos along the way.

Barnett stole the show again Thursday with an elaborate production at the UFC Gym in Hoboken as he promoted tonight's heavyweight contender bout against Ben Rothwell on the UFC on Fox 18 card at Prudential Center.

After opening the session with the typical grappling and mitt work with the trainer, Barnett had orchestrated a ruse in which a masked man rushed into the ring and tossed his training partner through the ropes. The invader then set his sights on Barnett, and the pair went through several minutes of classic professional wrestling maneuvers, much to the delight of the crowd.

After coming out victorious, Barnett delivered a rousing speech to the crowd.

The whole charade was not without a point, however.

Barnett clearly referenced an odd week in the heavyweight division. Champion Fabricio Werdum was scheduled to defend the belt against former champ Cain Velasquez next week in Las Vegas, but Velasquez pulled out with an injury. When Stipe Miocic was named Velasquez's replacement, Werdum decided to pull out of the fight.

"Here's the thing," Barnett said. "I'm a real fighter. I'm a professional. Ready for anything, anyone, anytime, anywhere, whatever the challenge is. Some guy comes from out of nowhere trying to ambush me, the hell with that. I'm not going to lay down for him. I'm not going to be like, 'Well, this is not fight night. I'm not going to take care of business right now.' No, this is what I'm paid to do. Fight. I'm going to fight Jan. 30 against Ben Rothwell on Fox. That's a guarantee. But, believe you me, I'm going to fight anywhere, anytime, anyone, any place because that's what I signed up to do."

He wasn't done taking aim at his fellow contenders.

"You know what, we get injured," he said. "We get hurt. Professional fighting is the most grueling professional sport there is. I know what it's like to be suffering. I know what it's like to be hurting. But you know what? I ain't gonna cry about it and pull out of fights. No. A real man doesn't get down, a real man just stays up and takes whatever comes his way. That's why I have won multiple world championships, that's why I'm going to beat Ben Rothwell, and that's why I'm going to march all the way to the UFC heavyweight title once more and put it back around my waist where it belongs."

The message was loud and clear, though Barnett later refused to admit his words were meant for the champion directly.

"You can make of it what you want," he said. "You can call it a fancy promo, you can call it an ode to Rick Flair, you can call it anything you want. But I said what I had to say. And more than what I say, what I do will speak for itself."

His ability to entertain outside the cage is what will keep Barnett, who works as a color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling, employed long after he's done fighting. It also will serve him well in promoting a title fight should the opportunity arise again.

But first, the 38-year-old knows he must end Rothwell's three-fight winning streak.

The two have crossed paths before. Barnett remembers a time shortly after he won the UFC heavyweight belt in 2002 when Rothwell, who was just beginning his career, approached him at an event in Hawaii.

"He was just a kid then looking up to me," Barnett said. "Now, he's no longer a kid, and he's not coming for advice. He's coming to take my head off. So all things come around in their own way."

Rothwell downplays any greater meaning stepping into the cage against Barnett could hold in terms of taking on someone he once looked up to as a fighter.

"I was just starting out as a pro, and he had just won the title in the UFC," Rothwell said. "I'm 34, and he's what, 38? He had some time here before me, but I've been doing it just as long as he has. It's just that I have four years less of damage."

Rothwell is similarly frustrated about the unclear title picture in the division. He hopes, however, that a win over Barnett would get him a fight against Miocic to determine the top contender in the division.

"It's not about proving myself," Rothwell said. "The world knows I'm one of the top fighters. It's just about going out and putting these guys away. I've been paying my dues for 17 years. I'm not about to stop. I don't want anything given to me. When I earn my title shot, I don't want any dispute. I want the whole world to be like, 'Yes, Ben Rothwell has earned this spot.' If I have to take out Barnett, then Stipe, fine. That's what I'm going to do."

Barnett hopes his performance in the cage is as good as the show at open workouts, which he said is all about the fans.

"I just feel like it's my opportunity to do what I want to do," he said. "My responsibility is to show up and do my thing and give them the whole song and dance. It's like at the Kentucky Derby when they walk the horses around and make them trot. I'm a racehorse right now. You guys want to be on me or against me. I get it. You want to take a look at how fit he looks, how he's moving around. Fine, I don't care. I know what prizefighting is."

The bout is part of a main card that will air live on Fox at 5 p.m. Six fights from the preliminary card will air on Fox Sports 1 at 2. Three remaining fights will stream on UFC Fight Pass at 3:30.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj