Josh Barnett has been a force to be reckoned with in both grappling and mma for some time. However for the last year his career has been neither here nor there.
In December 2016 he was pinged with an alleged drug violation. Barnett, 40, was vocal he won’t agree to any settlements. In turn some were even expecting he gets as much as a 4 year suspension.
Barnett has said to mmajunkie:
“I end up no matter what at the mercy of USADA,” the veteran UFC heavyweight said. “And to be honest, I don’t trust them in any way, shape or form. I have no interest to work with them or be a part of their program.
“I would be willing to do anything else but work with USADA at this point. When you can’t trust someone, what are you supposed to do? Continue to give them the opportunity to break your trust? They don’t seem responsible enough to have oversight over my career.”
Josh Barnett: ‘I Was Awarded a BJJ Black Belt & I had NEVER Trained
Now it looks as tho the super smart catch wrestler prevailed:
“On the evidence before me, the Applicant is not a drug cheat,” Richard H. McLaren, the chief arbitrator of McLaren Global Sport Solutions, Inc., wrote in his decision. “He unknowingly ingested a Contaminated Product. In doing so, he did commit an ADPV because he had a Prohibited Substance in his Sample but he did not actively engage in attempting, in any way, to engage in the use of a Prohibited Substance.”
Barnett who popped for ostarine during an out-of-competition test, becomes the first fighter to test positive and avoid suspension since USADA’s partnership with UFC began in 2015.
official USADA statement:
“Given the source was established to be a contaminated supplement, along with the athlete’s care and diligence concerning the nutritional products consumed, the arbitrator determined that a public reprimand was appropriate.”
