Aside from calling out Michael Bisping, it seems clamoring for a bout against CM Punk and Brock Lesnar is all the rage these days in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA).
From Alistair Overeem calling for a rematch against Brock -- despite already beating him -- to Al IaQuinta, Derek Brunson, and the aforementioned Bisping asking to be the first to welcome Punk to the Octagon, the current and former WWE stars have no shortage of challengers awaiting them.
But if you ask Josh Barnett, those seasoned MMA fighters puffing their chests and requesting those match ups are looking rather cowardly, as they see a fight against less-skilled and less-experienced opponents as an easy payday. And though he his own interest in facing Lesnar inside an MMA cage, he's doing it for business, and not for an easy shot.
From his recent appearance on The MMA Hour:
"That would be huge business. It would be a great match to make happen. I can never make that, I could never force the issue. But I've always put my voice out there in terms of wanting that fight. Then again, at this point it just sounds like I'm joining the chorus of all the MMA heavyweights that have called (for a fight with Lesnar). It's kind of the same thing as CM Punk in that these (MMA) guys are all out there running their mouth saying how they want to beat up Punk or beat up Lesnar because they think it's an easy payday. They see some lack of ability in their MMA game because of them not being fighters for pretty much their whole life. If they are going to go out there and get all of that glory and all of that notoriety to go beat this guy up, they see it as an easy shot which is, I don't know, in some ways kind of cowardly, actually. For me, I think of it as the business side of things. Not the business side in that I'm going to make so much money, but business in that, it's two pro wrestlers with styles; yeah, seeing the two of use go at it because people will find interest in it and the fight will be interesting itself. Not just in that I'm some guy that is going to try and bully some other guy who has got less experience and then act like I'm king shit of turd mountain. All these guys are like, 'yeah give me Punk, give me Punk.' It's like, okay dude, you've got like 30 fights and three different titles in other little organizations and now you want to go fight a guy with zero fights? Look at how fucking bad ass you are."
Point taken.
Barnett himself hasn't seen the inside of the Octagon since December 2013 after losing to Travis Browne via first-round knockout. But after plenty of time off from fighting and indulging in other endeavors, Josh recently announced that he is ready to return to the MMA scene and eyes a comeback sometime this year.
With no opponent in mind, Barnett says his goal is to add some metal and some much-needed excitement to the 265-pound weight class that's in need of a shake up. And he's more than confident he's the right man for the job.
But against who?