Josh Barnett may not know when his busy schedule will allow him to step foot back inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon, but one thing is certain, it won't be against Antonio Silva.
"Bigfoot" recently expressed his desire to settle his beef with "The Warmaster" once the Brazilian finishes serving his nine-month suspension for elevated testosterone levels.
Barnett, however, wants no part in a heavyweight slugfest against Silva, saying that in no way shape or form is he going to help a person he doesn't like gain any ground, notoriety, or money off him by stepping into the cage with them.
Barnett explained his stance during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting):
"I don't really care (about Silva). Here's the thing, if you really didn't like somebody, most people think, ‘Aw, well the thing is you've gotta itch for that time to get him in the cage.' Look, getting in the cage is a privilege. You're going to make money by fighting me. You're going to gain notoriety, even after I smash your face, and all I'm doing is making your life better, if you can sorta see past the face smashing. For me, I'm not trying to help this guy out. ... I don't like him, and I don't like the way he approached anything about what he did back in his Strikeforce days and all of that. I had never even talked about this dude. He brought up all this stuff, made this huge kerfuffle, so my response is: F him. I'm not going to help him gain any ground in any way, even by losing to me. I'm not going to get him paid. I'm not going to going to get him anything, if I can help it."
Silva and Barnett have a personal beef that dates back to 2011, when Josh stated that he would like to "smash his head like a pinata to see if candy falls out" after Silva backed out of their proposed fight a few years back. That prompted Silva to fire back at "The Warmaster," calling him a "filthy kiss ass."
But according to Barnett, he doesn't know why Silva is so "butt hurt" over something that doesn't make any sense, saying that perhaps Silva is upset because he doesn't acknowledge him as much as the Brazilian would like.
That's still not enough to get Josh to accept the challenge to a fight, saying he only wants fights that make sense.
He explains:
"I want to fight fights that make sense. Fights that are interesting, fights that people want to see, and fights that are challenging. That's it. Junior's challenging, he's a top fight, he's one of the best of the division, so yeah, of course. If it's not him, then I'm sure there's somebody else they can find. But the fact of the matter is just getting a good fight and a fight that makes sense, which is almost any of them, and going out there. I'm not one to go out there and pick fights, and I also don't call people out because I don't see a point in it. If you want to fight me, I'm not hard to find."
Sorry, "Bigfoot," but you're just not interesting enough for "The Warmaster."
If not Silva, then who should Barnett face when he decides to make his return to the eight-walled cage? Perhaps the aforementioned Dos Santos would be a good welcome back fight for Barnett.
What's your suggestion?