Tokyo Dome main event rematch booked for Bloodsport

Josh Barnett vs. Yuji Nagata
Josh Barnett vs. Yuji Nagata

We have a main event for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport—and it’s a rematch of Josh Barnett’s pro wrestling debut.

Twenty-three years after they battled for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Wrestling World in the Tokyo Dome, Barnett and Yuji Nagata will be meeting again. Their first match, Barnett’s first in a worked environment, came less than a year after he had won the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

Nagata won that contest in somewhat controversial fashion. He pinned Barnett after hitting a wrist-clutch exploder and a jumping reverse roundhouse kick to the head, but Barnett then immediately rolled over and locked Nagata in a crossface, seemingly unaware the match could end via pinfall.

There will be no such finish in Bloodsport, where there are no pins, and matches can only end via submission, knockout, or referee stoppage.

Barnett and Nagata have not had a singles match since then, though they have met in tag team matches, both as opponents and as partners, in 2003 and 2004. They were also both in the Ranbo at Wrestle Kingdom in 2025, which was eventually won by Hirooki Goto.

Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV airs on Triller TV live from the Horseshoe in Las Vegas on Friday, April 17. Tickets are available here. The card announced so far:

  • Masashi Takeda vs. Pete Dunne
  • Timothy Thatcher vs. Charlie Dempsey
  • Joe Dashou vs. Ulka Sasaki
  • Angel Verduzco vs. Matt Mako
  • Royce Isaacs vs. Shane Mercer
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ray Jaz
  • Erick Stevens vs. Fuminori Abe
  • Shayna Baszler vs. Nattie Neidhart
  • Miyu Yamashita vs. Janai Kai
  • Yuji Nagata vs. Josh Barnett
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