UFC Fight Night 75: Josh Barnett can take the belt off anyone and leave them 'lifeless on the floor'

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Josh Barnett is returning to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Octagon at UFC Fight Night 75 on Sept. 27, 2015 inside Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, against perennial heavyweight contender Roy Nelson.

See the full fight card here.

The former UFC heavyweight champion makes his third jaunt to the cage under UFC's banner after previously sitting out the last 22 months notching various movie roles, while making a dent in the professional wrestling landscape in Japan.

Barnett is famous around "The Land of the Rising Sun," having made a name for himself fighting in PRIDE FC. Now 37 years old, with a total of 40 mixed martial arts (MMA) fights under his belt, the catch-wrestling standout believes his best days are still ahead of him.

"The fact of the matter [is], I'm one of the best in the world, and I have been for well over a decade," Barnett told FOX Sports. "I've won titles in the UFC, Pancrase, Metamoris, I can go out there and compete with the best of them. I've been in title matches in Strikeforce and PRIDE. So look, I'm fighting Roy this time, but I could just as easily be fighting [Fabricio] Werdum."

His vast experience locking horns with the likes of Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Sergei Kharitonov over the course of his 17-year career has undoubtedly prepared Barnett for the challenges he has begun to face since his UFC return in Aug. 2013.

Barnett is currently 1-1 inside the Octagon and left it behind for his extended absence only after a devastating, first-round knockout loss to Travis Browne at UFC 168 back in Dec. 2013.

However, as soon as the California-based fighter signed the contract to face "Big Country" back in May, he began training for his September bout with his power-punching foe, which is also around the time he began to regain his mojo for the sport.

"The first day of sparring, it wasn't so much that we were focused on what I was doing or how my body feels or keeping a checklist on where I'm at now, but just being in there, hitting and getting hit, seeing and reacting, I'm just getting more and more hyped about it," said Barnett.

Though he sports a .500 record in UFC, Barnett currently occupies the No. 8 spot in the promotion's official rankings. In contrast to his short and limited UFC sample supply, he has usually left a mark in each fight promotion he has been employed by.

With dominant wins over combatants such as Couture and Kharitonov, Barnett's total of 28 finishes in 40 fights is irrefutable -- though some might want to disagree because of this -- and should be respected. As he sees it, at this point in his MMA career, he has nothing left to prove.

"I've proven myself. I'm ready for a championship fight anytime, anywhere, against anyone. There's no one with a belt in the world right now that I can't go out and take it from them," said Barnett. "I can go out there with anybody with any title around their waist and take it right from them, leaving them lifeless on the floor."

For more on the UFC Fight Night 75: "Barnett vs. Nelson" fight card, click here.