White Entertains Barnett Signing, Reality Makes It a Long Shot
The old maxim of business making strange bedfellows is never more true than in MMA. The thought of Top 5 heavyweight Josh Barnett and UFC Prez Dana White pairing up being a perfect example, but one that White is not ruling out. MMAJunkie has the word from a recent UFC Q and A session that if Barnett can beat Fedor, the Zuffa door may be open:
At Friday’s UFC 99 Q&A session with UFC Fight Club members in Cologne, Germany, White once again expressed the difficulty in his attempts to acquire the Russian heavyweight while suggesting the organization may possibly target an ex-employee.
“If Josh Barnett beats Fedor, obviously I’d be interested in signing Josh Barnett,” White said. “Obviously if he beats Fedor, he’s one of the best in the world.”
Barnett for his part has spoken in the past about the possibility of working with the UFC again, and his sentiments don’t make one optimistic:
TK: Could you see yourself fighting in the UFC again one day?
JB: It’s really up to them. From my perspective, all I’ve ever done is called them on things they’ve said or done concerning me or blanket statements they’ve made that include me. For me, it’s about not agreeing to be used, abused and kicked to the curb or letting someone just run over me. I’ve spent enough time in the business building up who I am and getting to where I’m at. I believe that time, dedication and accomplishment deserves to be treated a certain way. Honestly, I can do business with just about anybody and if they want to do business they just have to come with good faith and not try to pull on over me.
Whether it be a laundry list of biz practices of the UFC that would run counter to Barnett’s beliefs or an air of disrespect towards fighters at times by White, the odds of there being a meeting of the minds between the UFC and Mr Barnett would seem to be long.
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