Heavyweight veteran Josh Barnett has been released by the UFC, bringing an end to his latest five-year stint in the promotion.
The 40 year-old has been out of action for a year-and-a-half, with 15 months of that being due to being flagged by USADA for an anti-doping violation.
However, Barnett was cleared in March of this year by USADA due to the fact he’d taken a contaminated supplement, though he was issued a “public repremand” afterwards.
That meant that Barnett should have been clear to continue his UFC career, but Barnett had expressed his dissatisfaction and lack of trust with USADA going forward, which may have played a factor in why he is no longer with the promotion.
Barnett is no stranger to PED controversy, having previously been stripped of his UFC heavyweight title all the way back in 2002 after failing a drug test, and then having a blockbuster fight with Fedor Emelianenko in the Affliction promotion nixed in 2009 due to testing positive for steroids.
During his second run in the UFC between 2013-2018 Barnett racked up a 3-2 record, defeating Frank Mir, Roy Nelson and Andrei Arlovski, while his losses came against Travis Browne and Ben Rothwell, taking his overall career record to 35-8.
