While his nickname leaves much to be desired, “The Babyfaced Assassin” Josh Barnett is widely regarded as the best non-Russian heavyweight fighter in the world today. While the former UFC Heavyweight Champion has shown flashes of brilliance at several points in his career, is he truly the biggest test to date for The Last Emperor?

Barnett started his career in 1997, more than twelve years ago with an impressive seven-fight winning streak, including one notable victory over UFC Hall-of-Famer Dan Severn. After being knocked out cold by Brazilian striker Pedro Rizzo at UFC 30 on February 23, 2001 in his second UFC fight, the American standout went on another impressive run, winning eight fights in a row along with the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

 Although he defeated another hall-of-famer and former UFC Heavyweight Champion in Randy Couture during that span, Barnett struggled from the start after joining the Japanese-based Pride Fighting Championships in 2004, where he suffered back-to-back losses to Croatian striker Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovik.

 Following his losses to Filipovik, Barnett went on an eight-month, four-fight winning streak that arguably established him as one of the top five heavyweight fighters in the world, a reputation that has only increased with time and with the fall of several top ten heavyweights in recent years.

 Beginning with a February 2006 submission victory over Japanese favorite Kazuhiro Nakamura and continuing with one-sided wins over Aleksander Emelianenko and Mark Hunt, Barnett not only proved himself a top ten heavyweight, but also a finisher. It was not until his September fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, however, that Barnett emerged as a true great among his peers with a Split Decision victory over the former Pride Heavyweight Champion.

 Since that victory almost three years ago, Barnett has clung to the top five rankings—climbing as high as the number two spot in recent months—with victories over Jeff Monson and Pedro Rizzo after losing a third fight to Filipovik in 2006 and the rematch to Nogueira the same year.

 While Barnett has not lost since his December 2006 rematch with Minotauro, it is difficult to justify him as the second best heavyweight fighter in the world beside Emelianenko. Hidehiko Yoshida, Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo, and Gilbert Yvel are all accomplished fighters in their own rights, but they can hardly be considered top ten material.

 Perhaps it is the sheer number of high-profile bouts Barnett has been involved with since his professional debut twelve years ago—at least half of which he has lost—that has kept him firmly entrenched near the top of the ladder. Perhaps it was the period of relative inactivity from 2006 to 2008 that made it difficult to qualify his position in the rankings, or maybe it was something else entirely.

 Frank Mir is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweights fighting outside of Affliction Entertainment, and his recent victories have come over the very green Brock Lesnar in his UFC debut in a fight Mir was losing before catching his inexperienced foe in a leg lock, and a one-sided dismantling over a shaky Nogueira who had reportedly been infected with staph near the end of his training camp.

 Aside from Mir, Nogueira is coming off of the aforementioned loss as well as two lackluster victories over Heath Herring and Tim Sylvia in fights in which he was almost finished at several points. Brock Lesnar shows all of the promise his 6’3”, 280lb frame would suggest, but his lack of experience makes him impossible to rank higher than the 5 spot.

 Randy Couture is one of the few heavyweight fighters that many people give a legitimate chance to defeat Emelianenko, and he is coming off of a loss to Lesnar last November. Shane Carwin has yet to defeat anyone notable other than Gabriel Gonzaga, and Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia have stumbled and crashed to the bottom—or out—of the rankings since being defeated by Emelianenko and losing subsequent fights over heavy underdogs.

 In studying the current layout of the top fighters in the heavyweight division, it seems clear that while Barnett may well be one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world today, the serious lack of meaningful winning streaks and general inactivity amongst the top ten is just as responsible for his place in the two spot.

 Do not expect that spot to last long after Barnett is utterly handled by a man far superior to him on August 1 in Anaheim, California, and do not expect to see at least half of the top ten heavyweights retain a place in that illustrious group in the next two years, as up and comers such as Brett Rogers, Shane Carwin, Cain Valasquez Lesnar, and others we have yet to see usher in the new era of heavyweight athletes as the sport’s exposure and pay scale attract an increasing number of athletic big men in the near future.