Josh Barnett is an American fighter that became the youngest UFC heavyweight champion in history when he defeated Randy Couture by TKO in 2002. He also became the King of Pancrase in 2003 by submitting Yuki Kondo.

He is best known as being an advocate of Catch Wrestling, a style of submission wrestling hailing from the North of England that is largely overshadowed by BJJ in modern day MMA.

Barnett had a successful career in Pride, although he lost to Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic three times, one of which stopped him from winning the Pride Open Weight GP.

He has been a part of numerous steroid scandals but vehemently denies his use. He wasn't licensed to fight Fedor Emelianenko in August of 2009 due to failing a test which ultimately led to the demise of the promotion.

Barnett trains and teaches at Erik Paulson's CSW training centre in Fullerton, CA.