Barnett working on release, says UFC has been great, USADA not
Josh Barnett: “After … my vindication in that case, I don’t feel comfortable giving the control necessary to USADA that would continue my career in the UFC.”
On Wednesday MMAjunkie reported that former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett had been released by the league. As he was coming off a win, had been ranked #6 in the heavyweight division, and won three performance bonuses in his last three fights, it would be irrational for the UFC to want to release him.
The belief was that Barnett was responding to the mistreatment he suffered from USADA. Now The Warmaster has confirmed that in a message to Brett Okamoto for ESPN. The fighter also said he is not released from the UFC quite yet, but both sides are working towards it.
“It’s true that I have asked for my release and we are discussing the terms now,” said Barnett. “ZUFFA has been fantastic and above-board since I re-signed with the company. Every promise made has been kept and I have no disparaging words for them.”
“After everything I went through with USADA, and my vindication in that case, I don’t feel comfortable giving the control necessary to USADA that would continue my career in the UFC.”
USADA has done enormous good in the UFC – many fighters have failed tests for actual PEDs, and countless more are deterred. However, sometimes USADA fails, and they did here.
Barnett meticulously recorded what supplements he takes, and the source of his test failure was readily identified. However, USADA still wanted to suspend him, for four years. The Warmaster had the financial resources to pay for arbitration, and ultimately he was publicly reprimanded, with a suspension of 0 days. That’s a lot less than 1,460 days, especially when you’re 40 years old and your livelihood has a very narrow window.
However, Barnett had effectively served a 15-month suspension, and he’s not young. Further, his experience with USADA was that they were concerned with trophies, not justice. Think law enforcement administration in HBO’s The Wire. Josh Barnett is a principled character and is understandably no longer comfortable with USADA. But all fighters in the UFC are subject to random, comprehensive, out of competition testing by USADA. So at this juncture, there most unfortunately does not appear to be a path for Barnett to stay in the UFC.
