Sounds like you’re driving a Formula 1 car?
No, it’s a 2007 Mustang GT with only 12,000 miles on it. But it’s supercharged, 500 horsepower, got a full suspension underneath it. It’s lowered an inch-and-a-half. It’s very fast.
Is that one of the whips in your garage?
Actually, it’s in my mom’s garage. I bought a Dodge Challenger, and I didn’t have any room for it in my garage, so I gave it to her. It’s just really goddamn fast. She loves it.
What do you have in your garage now?
I have my GT500 Shelby, which is blisteringly fast. I’ve got a 2009 SRT Challenger. I’ve got a 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra. I’ve got a ‘68 GT500 Shelby Mustang, and I’ve got a ‘66 Mercury Cyclone GT, which really needs to be restored.
You’re now training to be a racecar driver. Is this whole fighting thing not fast enough for you?
It’s just a different thing. I grew up with it, around the track all the time—drag racing, classic cars, hot-rodding. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and I loved going fast. I love taking a car out there and pushing it to its limit, going as fast as you can and hitting those corners.
You’re driving a first date to dinner in the Challenger. Do you blast your death metal favorites or do you bust out the Hall & Oates?
Well, I do have the Best of Hall & Oates on my iPod, and there are occasions where that’s going to get played. Sometimes, I play less metal. Sometimes more. The car is nicknamed ‘The Orange Crusher’ because it’s Hemi Orange and it’s 440 horsepower. So metal is sort of in its DNA.
You’re entrance music comes from British death metal band Bolt Thrower. Do you think you’d lose your mojo without it?
I’ve come out to all different types of stuff before. But it’s what fits me. I think most people in the arena are probably like, ‘I don’t know what the hell this is, it just sounds horrific,’ but there might be one or two that hear this song and think, ‘That kicks ass.’ That makes me happy.
So you’re repping hardcore metal nerds everywhere?
I rep hardcore nerds everywhere. You can’t play video games and role-playing games and read comic books and be heavily into anime— there’s just so much about me that’s nerdy, and just because you’re a nerd doesn’t mean you can’t have a regular social life.
It’s going to take quite a Mrs. Barnett to keep up with all these different sides.
Well, if you’re going to be Mrs. Barnett, you’re only going to get one side, and that’s just me—all the time. That never changes. I don’t subscribe to being different depending on the situation. I think you have to be who you are, and everything else will fall in line. A friend of mine said, ‘To be your friend, you’ve got to have a valid passport and a drinking problem.’ I think that’s a pretty solid line.
You’re facing former Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier in the finals of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Are you guys cool with each other?
I think he’s a really good dude. At the end of the day, we are going to go out there and get in the ring and try to maul each other. But up until all that, it’s whatever. We’re all doing the same stuff. We all go to the same press conferences, we’re all training, and we’re all in the same boat. There’s no need to make a big deal about anything. You just try to enjoy it. We’ve hung out on several occasions, and I have no animosity towards him at all. I keep saying that I’m going to take him down when I fight him because him and King Mo Lawal are old Olympic wrestling buddies and they’re always going after each other. ‘You couldn’t take so-and-so down,’ or ‘I took you down.’ So I’m like, ‘I’m going to take you down, just so you have to hear Mo ridicule you forever and ever.’
If the UFC comes calling, will you go?
Well, I want to finish this Grand Prix first. I want to see it all the way to the end. But I go where the fight goes. I’m like a mercenary—wherever the war goes, that’s where I’ll be.
Well said Warmaster…well said. 
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