Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett believes the current state of MMA needs to change, suggesting longer rounds, more emphasis on takedown work and control, stricter rules on standups and fence grabs, Pride-style total fight scoring, and the elimination of weight-cutting.
Josh Barnett, the former UFC heavyweight champ, has a bone to pick with MMA’s current state. He’s got a few ideas to fix it too.
The question of how to improve MMA is a constant buzz in the sport’s world. UFC sets the bar, and other promotions try to match or surpass it with their unique adjustments. For example, ONE Championship permits knees to the head of downed opponents and discourages weight cutting. Meanwhile, PFL uses a seasonal format for most fights and bans elbows.
Barnett, however, thinks they’re all missing the mark. He’s a veteran of Pancrase, Pride, and Strikeforce, and he believes the rule structure of MMA needs a revamp. “We’ve already gamed it,” he said on The MMA Hour. “The system is gamed.”
He’s got a point. Fighters have figured out how to exploit the five-minute rounds. They mostly stick to kickboxing, only going for takedowns when necessary. And when they do score a takedown, they know their opponent will bounce back up. So, it’s not about establishing control on the ground anymore.
Barnett also notes that submission work has become predictable. It’s mostly sleeper holds and rear-naked chokes. But there’s a reason for this. Five minutes isn’t enough time to set anything up. The most common finish, the sleeper, usually follows a hit. The opponent gets dazed, stumbles, and the fighter takes their back and chokes them. It’s rare to see a clean takedown, setup, and choke.
Barnett’s perspective is shaped by his grappling background. He’s a former IBJJF no-gi world champion known for his catch-wrestling style. He’s won 19 of his 35 career victories via submission. He thinks the recent trend toward kickboxing is pulling the sport away from its roots.
He points to recent UFC champions Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira as examples. “You watch a lot of events now and it’s just, oh, this is basically a kickboxing match,” Barnett said. He respects Adesanya and Pereira as great fighters but feels their style is not representative of MMA.
Barnett isn’t picking on Adesanya and Pereira. He’s just using them as examples of a larger shift in MMA. Ideally, he’d like to see a return to a time when martial arts were more mixed. He’s got a few rule proposals he thinks would lead to more well-rounded fights.
“They’re great fighters and they’d be tough for anyone to deal with,” Barnett said. “But I think if the rounds were longer, people were starting to put more emphasis on takedown work and control, and being really heavy-handed about standups — not standing up people quite as much, and being really vicious about fence grabs to get back to your feet or to stop takedowns, I think they wouldn’t have as much success.”
Barnett believes that Pereira and Adesanya would still be top contenders. But he thinks the fighter structure would look different. He suggests at least 10-minute rounds and allowing knees to the head of a grounded opponent. He believes these changes would benefit everyone.
“And Pride-style total fight scoring. It makes way more sense,” Barnett added. He criticizes the current scoring system where fighters aim to win rounds instead of the whole fight.
Barnett advocates for a return to the rule set of Pride, where he competed for a large part of his career. But he’d like to add one thing that Pride didn’t do: eliminate weight-cutting altogether.
“The weight-cutting thing, that needs to be completely eliminated,” Barnett said. “It needs to be same day weigh-ins.” He argues that weight-cutting leads to more injuries and concussions. It depletes the body’s water, which is crucial for brain and joint health.
Barnett’s ideas are intriguing, but the chances of them being implemented at MMA’s highest levels anytime soon are slim. Still, it’s refreshing to know that “The Warmaster” is brainstorming ways to improve the sport.