QUOTABLES: Josh Barnett on Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce "This is major... I just want to be a part of that"

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"Things have changed. This is major and great things can come from it and I just want to be a part of that, and the way I can best do that is be the best fighter I can be. I'm not here to make this a personal vendetta or judgment with [Dana White], especially in terms of business. I know what I've got to do and I know what his position is in terms of being the president of the UFC, and that he has excelled at. He's done a great job.

If [Dana] hates me, he hates me; but if he sees the value in what I bring to the table as a fighter I think that will speak for itself. But you know what? I don't hate Dana and I do business, and I'll go out there and do the absolute best that I can do and if he happens to be my employer... literally, if Dana White has an office that I have to write into every day, because that's the person I report to for my business, well that's what I'll do...

There is a part of me that absolutely wishes that things between myself and the UFC had worked out differently. I was 23, 24-years-old at the time and I took advice from where I took it and I tried to do what I thought was the best thing at the time, but this guy that is sitting here talking to you now would tell that kid [that] he was a moron...

Dana likes to go out there and crush, kill, pillage, whatever; and let?s face it, that's kind of my M.O. As much as I may have ever had difficulty with Dana at the end of the day there is a part of me that absolutely vibes with what he is does.

Whether he wants to think about it or not, here and now, no bulls**t, Dana White is pretty f**king metal and I am a metal dude... we'll at least have that sort of respect that can't be overlooked...

I know the biggest thing that will affect my career, and that's going out there and winning this tournament. That's the biggest thing that I can actually make a difference in, that's something I actually have control over."

-Josh Barnett talks to Sherdog.com and reacts to Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce, as well as changes his tune on UFC President Dana White.

Penick's Analysis: There's no love lost between Dana and Barnett, but Barnett is smart enough to play the game now that his fate lies in the hands of the UFC following the end of his contract with Strikeforce. If he passes all his drug tests and handles things with the commissions and makes things less difficult for those running the show, it's not impossible that things can be patched up with him and the UFC. Dana's taken many fighters back in that he's feuded with, and if he can bring Tito Ortiz back into the fold, Barnett can certainly be brought back in the future. Barnett has taken the exact opposite path of Paul Daley, and Daley would be smart to keep his issues to himself for the time being, and if he can also play the game White's stance of him "never" being back in the UFC could be softened.

Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante