A Lion in Winter: Former UFC Champion Josh Barnett Confronts His Mortality

When you're an athlete, at some point birthdays cease being a thing you celebrate. They are, instead, looming reminders that your professional life is quickly coming to an end.

Sure, no one likes getting old. But for a prize fighter, that nagging pain, that lack of pep, that slight delay in reaction time is the difference between leaving an arena with your hand raised and leaving it on a stretcher.  

That may sound like hyperbole, but in combat sports, the consequences for failure can be dire. Few in the fight game know that better than Josh Barnett, a 37-year-old heavyweight who will fight Roy Nelson Saturday in Japan.

The former UFC champion has walked that aisle 40 times in a career spanning 18 years and seen it all. He's been on both ends of devastating knockouts, fought three different Olympians and tested his will against seven former combat sports world champions.

But Father Time may be the most unyielding, meanest son of a gun he's ever battled.

"At the highest level, when you really need to push yourself, it's hard on you. It really is," Barnett admitted to Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. "And if you do it long enough, you start to accumulate bumps, bruises, injuries over time. It's inevitable."

"That's why you need training camps. To ease yourself into these things. And as you get older, myself included, you have to learn to train smarter," Barnett explained. "Not necessarily running your head into the wall over and over and over.

"When you were 20 you might have been able to put your head through it," he continued. "When you're almost 40, you may put your head through it, but the rest of you is going to say 'I'm glad you did that but that's all we've got for today.' And you're going to be hurting for awhile."

Barnett coaching Jessamyn Duke

For Barnett, age is exacerbated by inactivity. His last fight, a knockout loss to Travis Browne, was almost 22 months ago. He's been busy since, trying on different potential post-fight careers. He's filmed two movies, started answering to "Coach," taken a turn as a color commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS TV and found time to compete twice in grappling contests. 

None of that, even the submission wrestling, is a proper proxy for fighting, something he says his body was quick to tell him when he got back to the gym to prepare for Nelson.

"If I'm on a good cycle of lifting and eating healthy and being strong and fit but not actually hitting the mats and going hard a lot, I feel pretty great," he said. "I always feel amazing that first week of training. But if I keep at it, second week, third week, 'arrgh.' Where did all that conditioning go? I felt strong as an ox two weeks ago and now all of the sudden I'm just falling apart. The wear and tear catches up with you."

In time, he says, his body caught up with his mind. The physical and the mental are jelling just as his 41st fight (his 19th fight in Japan) approaches.

"I had my last sparring session (last Friday). I felt like I did well," Barnett said. "My cardio and conditioning are good and I was able to execute some things I really wanted to. At the same time, by the end I was slinging my mouthpiece across the room, furious and angry because I'm in that headspace where nothing is ever good enough. I'm just mad as s--t all the time.  That's how I know I'm ready to go out there and compete." 

In many ways the rotund Nelson is the perfect opponent for Barnett. The 39-year old is a kindred spirit of sorts, generally pursuing the finish at all costs. Nelson has ended the night early for foes in 18 of his 20 wins. Barnett has clocked out before closing time in 28 of his 33 career victories. 

It's a mindset, he noticed, that doesn't seem to exist much any more in a sport that has slowly morphed into a very different animal over the last two decades. It's perhaps another sign of Barnett's creeping age that this seismic change in how fights are prosecuted doesn't sit well with the veteran.

"People have figured out a system that works with rounds and time limits and what have you. It has evolved away from being a sport of finishes to a sport of 'sprint for five minutes, put pressure on the guy, go back to your corner and come back out for another five minutes,'" he said. "No matter what you're doing, even if you're just playing Monopoly you'll eventually figure out a way to game the system. As much as you can to get the best results."

Traditionalists have been butting heads against the watering down of MMA from the first event forward. This particular skirmish was initially contested on a fateful day in December 1995, when judges rendered their first decision. It's a battle long ago lost. But that doesn't stop Barnett from fighting it anew.   

"My personal opinion is that five minutes isn't really enough time to be effective," Barnett said. "Ten minutes would be much better. Or even straight time for 15 or 20 minutes. You'd be able to employ more strategy using all the aspects of MMA versus kickboxing at a high pace and looking to get takedowns and control. There has to be incentive to finish or to go for the finish."

Against Nelson, Barnett will have another opportunity to make a case against what he calls "the dumbing down" of MMA. The two men will go out to the Octagon to win in the most definitive way possible, one that has nothing to do with judges scribbling on a pad of paper.

"I am there to finish fights," Barnett said. "I know Roy is too. When he gets in there, he means it. That's what I want. I want the very best Roy Nelson. And I'm going to beat him."

Jonathan Snowden covers combat sports for Bleacher Report.