Not for the first time in his career, UFC heavyweight veteran Josh Barnett has been flagged for a potential anti-doping violation.
The 39 year-old is reported to have failed an out-of-competition test taken on December 9th, but at this stage the banned substance in question has not been announced.
This is nothing new for ‘The Warmaster’, as drug test failures have followed him throughout his career, starting all the way back in 2001 when he tested positive for banned substances after a win over Bobby Hoffman at UFC 32 and was given a warning by NSAC.
Remarkably, Barnett was still given a title shot with Randy Couture next time out at UFC 36 a few months later, and after winning by TKO it emerged that he’d tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the belt.
Barnett steered clear of fighting in the U.S. and instead enjoyed a long stint in the PRIDE promotion in Japan before eventually ending up in the up and coming Affliction outfit.
However, Barnett would then be caught out again in 2009, testing positive for steroids just a couple of weeks prior to a huge fight with Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Trilogy, which would lead to the collapse of the promotion.
Despite his tarnished reputation, Barnett continued competing and rose to prominence again in the Strikeforce promotion, reaching the final of their heavyweight grand-prix in 2012 and was then welcomed back into the UFC in 2013.
Barnett has fought five times in the Octagon since then, going 3-2 and is coming off a submission victory over Andrei Arlovski back in September, which left him ranked No.6 in the division.
Having been tested no less than 13 times by USADA over the course of 2016, it seemed as if his PED issues may have been left in the past, but unfortunately that’s proven not to be the case, and a lengthy suspension at this stage may well put an end to his fighting career.
