Josh Barnett Says He’ll Fight Miocic At UFC 196 One Week After Rothwell Fight

After Fabricio Werdum declined to fight his UFC 196 replacement opponent Stipe Miocic, John Barnett stepped up and said he wants the fight. Barnett says the fight should be for the heavyweight championship, which was also Jon Jones’ condition for fighting Miocic.

“If they page me 911, if they send me the number, I will absolutely take the fight,” Barnett told MMAfighting.com. “If they want a heavyweight championship main event, I’m your man. I’ll go in. I’ll take care of business and I’ll give them what they want. I’ll give them what they need, which is a healthy, motivated championship fighter. That’s what they’ll get.”

“Interim title,” Barnett said. “It’s set up for a title match. Let’s keep it going. That’s what they need on Super Bowl weekend. They need a title fight. They need a heavyweight title fight. That’s what we can provide. Former champ and a No. 1 contender. That’s what people want to see. They want to see championship level fights. They want to see the top guys go at it. We can do it.”

It should be noted that Barnett is scheduled to fight Ben Rothwell at UFC on FOX 18 on January 30th, and UFC 196 takes place on February 6th.