Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshido in March at WVR

The following was reported at www.mmajunkie.com

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett (20-5) will take on Hidehiko Yoshida (7-5-1) at the upstart World Victory Road organization’s show on March 5.

The event takes place at the Yoyogi First National Gymnasium in Japan. It’ll be the debut show for the organization.

World Victory Road launched in 2007 soon after Zuffa LLC (the UFC’s parent company) purchased — and disbanded — PRIDE. Last week the organization signed highly ranked lightweight fighter and former PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi, who will also be a part of the March 5 event.

The 30-year-old Barnett hasn’t competed in more than 13 months, when he dropped a unanimous decision to current UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. Although still generally considered a top-10 heavyweight, he’s lost two of his past three fights, which includes a first-round-stoppage loss to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in September 2006.

Barnett had been one of the sport’s top free agents before his recent signing. During the fall of 2007, though, he and UFC President Dana White exchanged a series of jabs through the media. White claimed that they weren’t going to sign Barnett because “no one cared” about him, which prompted Barnett to assert that White would sign anyone if he thought the fighter could make him money. He wouldn’t deny rumors that he had been in negotiations with the UFC just prior to the exchange.

Barnett made his UFC debut in November 2002, and 15 months later, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in the organization’s history. However, soon after defeating then-champ Randy Couture at UFC 36, Barnett was stripped of the title for testing positive for steroids. He never competed in the UFC again.

The 38-year-old Yoshida has competed only for PRIDE during his five-year career. Like Barnett, the Olympic Judo gold medalist hasn’t competed since PRIDE Shockwave 2006, where he suffered a first-round TKO to James Thompson.