War of Words Between Friends: Barnett vs. Fedor
Published by Scoop Malinowski on June 4th, 2009 in Current Events

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The biggest heavyweight fight in the history of Mixed Martial Arts will be unique in another way as it will pit two very close friends against each other in combat, as Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko are long time mutual admirers. Despite the total lack of any bad blood or tension between Fedor and Barnett, this showdown has captivated worldwide attention as well as the elites of the sporting world, with Donald Trump, Mark Cuban, Donald Trump Jr. to be a part of the grand promotion which will take place on August 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

On Wednesday at Fifth Avenue at the Trump Tower, the press conference was held at 11 am to announce the historical event. Barnett arrived at 10:33 a.m. dressed casually in jeans and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, with his lady friend. Big Poppa said a few quick hellos before disappearing into a side room. Fedor entered the scene with a large Russian entourage at 11:05, probably delayed by signing a ton of autographs and taking photos with fans, as the Last Emperor is an honorable gentleman and tries to accommodate all fan requests.

Now its time for business and the statements of the involved parties:

Donald Trump: “Everybody who saw the last Affliction show said it was one of the greatest sporting events they ever saw. I love working with everybody associated with this, HDNet, Mark Cubab. I’m so proud it’s taken off, everybody’s watching it. And he’s going to be very much involved, so we love having you involved Mark. It’s great, a great honor. The fight is going to be tremendous. We have a great under-card.”

Josh Barnett: “This is a fight that a lot of people have been expecting for a long time, press, fans alike, fighters actually. But make no bones about it, just because that we’re friends doesn’t mean that we don’t take fights very seriously. This is going to be a very serious endeavor. I think because of the nature of this bout between the two of us, because of the mutual respect that we have for each other, in terms of our status as professional athletes in our respective division and in the world of mixed martial arts, this fight will live up to a greater expectation than any other heavyweight bout that I can think of in history. So I plan on doing my part in making it historical. So show up, see what happens.”

Fedor Emelianenko: “I thank all the organizers of this event, from Affliction, the team, everyone involved, Mr. Cuban and I’d also like to thank Josh, he is a friend, a true friend. And I’m very happy that we’ll be able to meet in the ring and show everyone a wonderful show. I know it won’t be the last show that all of us are involved in. And I thank you for your support and I’m very happy to be here.”

Fedor: “Every day I fight with my friends in training. It’s a sport, we’re athletes, we’ll be in the ring to compete. And I feel confident that our friendship will continue after the fight.”

Barnett: “Friendship in terms of competing against each other, and if anything, being a good friend means that I should bring the best of my abilities to the ring so that I can make the best fight possible and be the best athlete of Josh Barnett that I can be, for my friend, out of respect. Our friendship in terms of the result or outcome of this fight has nothing to do with the actual match itself. And I think because of our friendship, that’s the reason that you’re gonna get the best fight out of both of us. We don’t need to have any personal grudges to fight at our best. And, if anything, we have such a high respect for each other and we want to be the best and we want to show our best.”

Donald Trump: “It’s been an amazing couple of evenings (at the Affliction shows). The last one was one of the greatest, I was just telling Mark, it was one of the greatest sporting events I’ve ever seen. And Mark knows that. Mark is going to be there. Because it really is a great event. I think that if this one can even almost match it, it’ll go down as just a very, very important evening in sports. It’s really exciting stuff.”

Tom Atencio: “I just don’t think they (UFC) are willing (to match their heavyweights against Barnett and Fedor). If that’s out of fear I don’t know. I’m more than willing to match (Fedor and Barnett with Lesnar and Mir), I’m open to it. I’m more than happy to do it. I’m a fan first and foremost.”

Barnett: “Fedor can have Brock, I can take Mir, it doesn’t matter to either one of us. When it comes down to it, only we can do what we do – and the rest of ‘em are gonna drop like flies.”

Barnett: “I like to crush faces. That’s what I love.”

Barnett: “I don’t even care about the belt, per se. Not because the belt itself doesn’t have any value, belts are trinkets, they’re spoils of war. And if you don’t win you don’t get ‘em. So it’s really irrelevant. After all is said and done, my hand is raised. Then I’ll care about having a belt. It’s the fighter that makes the belt. And Fedor beating Sylvia and then beating Arlovski, the way that he did, he gives the belt credibility. If I’m to beat Fedor, or Fedor’s to beat me, that, again, is gonna add an exponential amount of credibility to the belt. It’s the person that wears it, not necessarily the organization, in this case.”

Fedor and Barnett did many interviews with the media who were represented by The New York Post, USA Today, Foxsports.com, Full Contact Fighter, among many other outlets. Shortly after 1, Fedor departed and was mobbed by autograph hunters and fans, including a sprightly 91-year-old woman who claims she was Fedor’s biggest fan. As his handlers tried their best to pull Fedor to wherever they were going, Fedor wanted to please all his fans with as many photos and signings as they wanted. He truly enjoyed them, like Barnett.

Stay tuned for our one-on-one interview with Josh Barnett…