Josh Barnett checked off a couple of items on his MMA bucket list on Saturday.
First, he finally fought contemporary Andrei Arlovski. The two men have had concurrent heavyweight careers, somehow never directly crossing paths despite working for many of the same promotions.
Second, he became the first fighter ever to submit Arlovski. Of his 21 submission wins, that was one Barnett will remember for a long time.
So what's left for "The Warmaster?" He's been a top-10 heavyweight for almost his entire fighting life, which he believes keeps him in constant orbit of a title shot. Should the opportunity arise, Barnett would be open to competing for a championship that he last held 14 years ago.
At Saturday's post-fight press conference, Barnett went as far as to suggest that he'd be ready to fight at UFC 203 in six days should misfortune befall challenger Alistair Overeem before his match with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.
"If Overeem got injured out of nowhere or something, Andrei, myself, whomever, there are several of us out there that can slide right in and fight in that match, and that's completely legitimate," Barnett said, according to Chuck Mindenhall of MMA Fighting. "But the biggest thing that we can control is going out there and our performances that lie in front of us. It's one at a time, and I'm sure a heavyweight championship fight could be in the future."
Barnett has struggled to find consistency since rejoining the UFC in August 2013. He knocked out Frank Mir in his return, then alternated wins and losses in his next four.
Through those peaks and valleys, the 38-year-old catch wrestler remains entrenched in the top-10 due to the stagnant nature of the heavyweight division. But Barnett isn't interested in actively campaigning for a title shot.
"I don't think in those modalities," Barnett said. "I think of just being able to perform at my best at any given moment, completely living in that immediate now. At this point, guys like me and Andre, we've already won belts.
"You've got Overeem, there's a slew of guys out there, of us in the heavyweight division that have proven that we are capable of being the world champion. Anywhere you put us. We're always ready to take the challenge, and it's always acceptable for us to be in the title fight."
