http://mmajunkie.com/news/25069/strikeforces-josh-barnett-less-interested-in-spoils-of-war-razing-dead-than-winning-the-battle.mmaAs a fellow PRIDE veteran, Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix contender Josh Barnett (30-5 MMA, 1-0 SF) knows exactly what he's getting into by facing Sergei Kharitonov (18-4 MMA, 1-0 SF) in the featured contest of this month's "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov" event.
But Barnett said he's more than prepared to handle the challenges presented by the Russian knockout artist and feels confident he can win the fight standing or on the ground.
And while Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently revealed the winner of Strikeforce's grand prix will not claim the company's heavyweight title, Barnett claims that was never his goal. After all, the focus of fighting is winning battles, not pillaging the vanquished.
"Titles and things like that are spoils of war," Barnett said on a recent call promoting the Sept. 10 event, which takes place at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena. "You have to go out there and win battles before you can raze the dead of all their belongings."
Barnett's colorful depiction is par for the course for the dedicated showman, but he brings real skills to the cage, as well. And Barnett and Kharitonov served overlapping stints in the PRIDE promotion, so "The Babyfaced Assassin" knows precisely what to expect from his opponent in the Showtime-broadcast main event.
"[Kharitonov] always showed himself to be a really tough individual," Barnett said. "I remember he played like a little bit of a game – he sort of pulled the wool over everybody's eyes. He came into PRIDE and acted like he didn't know how to strike – like he didn't have any standup – and then all of the sudden pulled out all his boxing when he fought (Murilo) 'Ninja' (Rua), which it turns out was a huge part of his background anyways.
"But he was always a perennial contender. He was always up there in the upper echelon of the heavyweights but never quite got over the hump."
While Kharitonov has indeed fought through a few inconsistent performances over the years, he's looked rejuvenated in recent first-round knockout victories over Andrei Arlovski and Tatsuya Mizuno and sports a 5-1 overall record in his past six fights. Still, Barnett said that doesn't necessarily offer any insight on how Kharitonov will perform against him.
"He looked to have shown up at least for the last fight in the best shape he's ever been in," Barnett said. "He looked pretty dominant against Arlovski, but then again I'm not Arlovski. So we'll see how this turns out.
"He's a brute. He likes to come in, take shots in the face and step inside towards the body and then eventually come up top with some big shots. So, you know, you don't stand in front of a guy like that. You stay out of the way, keep moving and you take him apart."
The winner of the Barnett-Kharitonov clash will face either Antonio Silva or Daniel Cormier in the first quarter of 2012, and Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix title will be on the line. And while former heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem was recently released from the promotion, his heavyweight championship belt will go unclaimed for now.
Barnett, who was once the UFC's heavyweight champion, admits he would prefer to compete for the belt, but he's just fine fighting without any hardware on the line. After all, he's got a job to do, pride to protect and a face to keep undamaged.
"Honestly, yes, I would love the title," Barnett said. "And if the final of this heavyweight tournament was for the heavyweight title, right now I would love that. I think that's great and it would add a nice punctuation mark at the end of it. But it doesn't change my attitude towards getting the job done.
"You have to go out there, and you have to beat your opponent. Otherwise you just get to walk home with a black eye and wounded pride."
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