Josh Barnett News

Adam Martin - October 1, 2020

Former UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett will return to the ring when he takes on Marcin Rozalski in a bare-knuckle boxing match for KSW Genesis. KSW Genesis is an offshoot of Poland’s famed KSW promotion and on October 23, Barnett steps into the cage when he takes on Rozalski, the former KSW heavyweight champion. The fight will take place with modified bare-knuckle boxing rules as elbows will also be allowed. The bout will mark the bare-knuckle fighting debut for Barnett, who is one of the pioneers of the sport of mixed martial arts and the former UFC heavyweight champion.

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.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2019

Josh Barnett finally has a dance partner for his Bellator debut. The former UFC heavyweight champion will make his debut with the Viacom-owned promotion on Friday, December 20 in Hawaii, in the main event of Bellator’s second annual Salute the Troops event. This card will be part of a weekend double-header featuring two Bellator events.

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.

Tom Taylor - January 13, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champ and current Bellator MMA star Frank Mir is venturing into the world of pro wrestling — and he’s doing so as part of an organization helmed by another heavyweight MMA legend in Josh Barnett. The event goes down on April 4, a few days before WrestleMania. Barnett announced this exciting news on Twitter earlier this week.

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.

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

After a prolonged, bureaucratic battle with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett has been cleared of all wrong-doing, meaning he’s now allowed to fight again for the first time since his September, 2016 defeat of Andrei Arlovski. Given that the UFC heavyweight division is perpetually starving for top talent, this is fantastic news. So, who should the now 40-year-old Barnett fight in his anticipated return to action? For a fighter of his caliber, there are always plenty of interesting options, but here are three that we find particularly compelling.

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 - December 8, 2017

In a world where submission only grappling has finally rose to prominence over the last couple of years, there are no shortage of tournaments for players of all ground games to showcase their skills. The Eddie Bravo Invitational, Polaris, and Metamoris are just three organizations that are aiming a spotlight on grapplers, complete with production values and belts to raise above their heads. MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba is partnering with former UFC heavyweight champion and Josh Barnett to bring a new storm to the atmosphere with their innovative new promotion called Quintet. “Honestly, I enjoy competing. And if I’m having a great time, it’ll be fun for the audience too. In a regular bout, you’ve got one match and it’s over. But we’ve got attrition-style bouts, called ‘kachi-nuki’. If you win, you keep on fighting, maybe winning two or three times. That right there is what will make it fun to watch. It’ll be a heck of a challenge, but that much more exciting.” — Kazushi Sakuraba

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