Josh Barnett vs Roy Nelson set for UFC Japan, war of words has already begun

The long-discussed fight has finally come to fruition

After nearly two years of gap in fighting, Josh Barnett will be back in the Octagon facing fellow heavyweight veteran Roy Nelson.The match is scheduled to take place at the UFC Fight Night 78 main event on Sept. 27, 2015 inside Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Both the fighters will serve as coaches for a new mixed martial arts (MMA) reality show, dubbed "Road to UFC: Japan." While it films in both Las Vegas and Japan, it differs from TUF in that participants do not share a house and/or get drunk and make fools of themselves on television.

Here’s a statement regarding the reality show on UFC website:

“ROAD TO UFC: JAPAN will see eight MMA athletes train both in their hometowns and in Las Vegas at the TUF Gym under the supervision of coaches and UFC stars, Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett. Throughout the course of the series, match-ups will be selected and fights will be scheduled to whittle the contestants down to two finalists, who will then participate in the live event at the Saitama Super Arena. The TV show will be broadcast in Japan beginning in July, airing weekly until September, and culminating at UFC FIGHT NIGHT: JAPAN.”

With Barett vs Nelson trending, the fighters have started their war of words on Twitter. First it started with "Big Country" making comments against Barnett’s past drug use and expressing his desire to see the new drug-testing policy from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) being enforced in time for their international bout. Below is Nelson’s tweet:

I HOPE @UFC DRUG TESTING IS IN EFFECT by then ;) Right @GeorgesStPierre @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/nW0haVT4Yy

— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) May 14, 2015

And Josh "The Warmaster" Barnett fired back with a clever remark of his own, hoping the company makes an exception and lets Nelson use steroids, just to make the bout a bit more competitive. Here’s what he tweeted:

I'm hoping they allow you to do steroids just make this a competitive fight. Gravy injections haven't worked for you https://t.co/6HX91Ykcte

— Josh Barnett (@JoshLBarnett) May 14, 2015

With the expectation from this bout increasing. We have to wait to see as to who will make a statement inside the Octagon !!