Josh Barnett News

Adam Martin - September 1, 2020

MMA heavyweight legend Josh Barnett believes that Brock Lesnar is using mixed martial arts as leverage to re-sign with the WWE. Reports emerged this week that Lesnar is now a free agent after his contract with the WWE expired, and he has already been connected to a return to MMA. The former UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar has already been called out by Jon Jones on social media and Bellator president Scott Coker has admitted he is interested in matching up Lesnar against Fedor Emelianenko. But Barnett isn’t having any of the rumors.

Cole Shelton - February 21, 2020

Josh Barnett’s Bellator debut has been postponed again as he has reportedly failed a drug test. Barnett was expected to make his promotional debut against Ronny Markes at Bellator 241 on March 13 but that will no longer be the case. Fight Oracle on Twitter reported that the former UFC heavyweight has failed a drug test. The news has since been confirmed by several reporters.

Adam D Martin - December 22, 2019

Bellator heavyweight Ronny Markes is looking to fight Josh Barnett at Bellator 238 next month after their Bellator Salute The Troops fight was canceled. Barnett fell ill and was forced to be removed from the card just hours before he was set to fight Markes in the main event of Bellator Salute The Troops. Barnett later posted a video statement where he explained why he couldn’t fight and how disappointed he was to let down the troops and the fans.

Adam Martin - December 21, 2019

Bellator heavyweight contender Josh Barnett has released a statement following his last-minute removal from the main event of Bellator Salute The Troops. Barnett was scheduled to face Ronny Markes in the headlining fight, but about an hour before it was set to take place, Bellator announced the fight was canceled due to an illness to Barnett. Toby Misech vs. Erik Perez ended up taking the headlining spot, with Misech pulling off a stunning upset knockout win.

Adam Martin - September 30, 2019

Josh Barnett is interested in a potential Bellator heavyweight legends tournament, and if it happens he hopes the tournament takes place during one night. Barnett was signed by Bellator earlier this year after the UFC released him following a dispute with USADA. He hasn’t fought in three years, and is rumored to be making his return on the year-end Bellator/RIZIN card, though that’s not official just yet.

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2019

Bellator MMA has recently signed several notable free agents, including former UFC champions Josh Barnett and Cris Cyborg. Speaking to the media ahead of Bellator 228, Bellator president Scott Coker discussed the Bellator debuts of these two stars. He started with Barnett, explaining that he’d like the heavyweight veteran to make his debut in Japan on a card co-promoted with RIZIN.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is now a Bellator MMA fighter. Although this news broke on April Fools day, it is indeed factual. Bellator President Scott Coker even has an opponent in mind for the heavyweight legend’s debut. Coker first announced that reigning Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight champ Ryan Bader will defend his heavyweight belt against Cheick Kongo before returning to the light heavyweight division. He then added that Josh Barnett is likely to get an immediate title shot against the winner of Bader and Kongo’s fight.

Drake Riggs - April 1, 2019

“The Warmaster” Josh Barnett holds the record for the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history. A label he achieved at just 24-years old. Now 41, the Seattle, Washington native isn’t done yet. Barnett revealed today on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that he had signed with Bellator MMA… As he did so live on the show. Because today is April 1, also known as April Fool’s Day, there was still speculation despite Helwani’s examining of Barnett’s freshly signed contract. Thus prompting a quick follow up tweet from Bellator President Scott Coker that confirmed the signings legitimacy.

Drake Riggs - June 26, 2018

Today, a prayer to the MMA Gods is indeed in order. And compared to the previous two…this one feels like it has a good chance at being answered soon. Everybody loves the heavyweight division. Especially their legendary figures like Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Igor Vovchanchyn, Randy Couture…the list goes on.

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2018

As we already knew, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is leaving the UFC. Citing a distrust with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and a difference vision for the remainder of his career than the one the UFC has, he’s ready to take his show back on the road. Josh Barnett explained his choice to cut ties with the UFC in a lengthy and insightful Facebook post.

Drake Riggs - June 21, 2018

Yesterday the news broke that Josh Barnett was being released from the UFC after a five year run in his second stint with the company. Now we get some clarity as to why. After the former UFC heavyweight champion, Barnett’s most recent win over Andrei Arlovski in September 2016, he was notified of a failed USADA test thus resulting in his suspension.

Drake Riggs - June 20, 2018

After recently having his USADA suspension reprimanded, former UFC heavyweight champ, Josh Barnett is now moving on from the organization. MMAJunkie’s Steven Marrocco is reporting that Barnett has been released from the UFC making him free to explore other options.

Chris Taylor - March 24, 2018

Josh Barnett reacts to beating USADA: “The time I lost though can never be regained.” Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett received some great news on Friday when it was announced that he had received a reprimand instead of a suspension from USADA.

Drake Riggs - March 23, 2018

To be blunt, “The Warmaster” Josh Barnett is no stranger to failing drug tests. In his illustrious forty-three fight career, he’s failed a total of three tests and all for PEDs. The second of these failures resulted in his stripping of the UFC heavyweight title back in 2002 which he won by defeating Randy Couture and making him the youngest UFC champion ever(until Jon Jones came along). The third came ten days prior to his highly anticipated showdown with MMA great, Fedor Emelianenko for Affliction. The failed test essentially killed the organization as the card couldn’t be salvaged and was canceled.

Drake Riggs - January 15, 2018

Ever since the UFC has brought in USADA to handle their drug testing and help “clean up the sport”, we’ve seen several big stars get busted for performance-enhancing drug use. One of the victims happened to be a former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett who failed a test after his win over Andrei Arlovski in 2016. Barnett hasn’t fought since then and very likely won’t be anytime soon. “The Warmaster” gave us an update when he spoke with MMAJunkie recently: “I end up no matter what at the mercy of USADA 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.

Justin Golightly - January 11, 2018

Andrei Arlovski, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Hunt. These are some of the names that Josh Barnett have taken out in his staggering 21 year stay in the world of combat sports. He even beat Randy Couture back at UFC 36 to become the UFC heavyweight champion. While he’s been out of MMA since 2016, he hasn’t been lazy. From television shows, inhabiting the body of a Viking, to pro wrestling inside and outside of the ring, Barnett isn’t lacking things to occupy his battle-sharpened mind. Although, he doesn’t rule out a return to the cage either. “I’m not finished with it. I still have a lot within MMA that I want to do. There’s still a desire in me to go out and fight. I know that it is going to be a much smaller window for me in that there’s so many other things in my life. At the moment, I know the desire is there to compete, but the desire to structure my life around training camps and all that at the moment just isn’t there.”

Justin Golightly - October 26, 2017

The warrior spirit is forever tethered to Josh Barnett and his brutal Spotify playlist. If this was any other time or era, he would still be running full speed into battle. Whether he’s doing it physically, or by putting down a Lord of the Void in Magic: The Gathering, Barnett always finds time for violence. It’s just who he is. Let’s take his Summer vacation, for instance. While you were probably out at the beach, Josh Barnett was preparing a group of Vikings in Sweden for conquest. Your consequences were a hangover and a sunburn; their consequences were death. KLONK! @JoshLBarnett @TheGrimfrost #viking #Vikingatheart pic.twitter.com/D5r4oX6Lsb

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

It’s time for a quick survey: Are you caught up on Japanese pro wrestling? Do you like to spend your days covered in grease, tinkering with badass American muscle cars? On a Friday night, are you more likely to be drinking from a goblet and playing Magic the Gathering than out at a club? Have you ever powerbombed someone? If you asked yes to any of the above questions, you came to the right place. If you answered yes to all of these questions, you’re probably Josh Barnett. Former UFC champion and battle-proven Warmaster, Barnett is a notorious metal head. When he’s not running commentary for New Japan Pro Wrestling or doing a million other things, you could see him at your favorite band’s show sacrificing people off the stage to the writhing mosh pit below. Thanks to the wonders of technology, Barnett has painstakingly put together “The World’s Most Metal Playlist” on Spotify and made it public.