Barnett refuses to settle with USADA, expects 4-year ban for failed drug test
Thirteen months after he was flagged by the USADA, things aren't exactly looking up for Josh Barnett.
On Monday, the UFC heavyweight told MMAjunkie's Steven Marrocco that he won't agree to any penance the anti-doping agency offers him in relation to his failed December 2016 drug test and expects he'll be slapped with the maximum four-year suspension because of it.
Barnett was flagged for ostarine in an out-of-competition sample collected on Dec. 9, 2016, and while he denied knowingly taking the banned substance, the USADA has since attributed its presence in the sample to a supplement containing tribulus terrestris, a legal herb reportedly capable of boosting natural testosterone.
The USADA initially threatened Barnett with a four-year ban due to his track record as a repeat offender, says the 40-year-old, but even after the anti-doping agency tested the supplement and docked the potential penance down to 18 months, Barnett maintains they intend to "erect a stake and burn me at it."
"I’m not against the idea and the spirit of USADA, or what an independent drug testing program is for - not at all," Barnett said. "I don’t have an issue with any of these things, and even though I took a supplement that was tainted, I’m OK with having to go through the process to test the supplements. I’m totally fine with that.
"The only thing I protest to is being hammered after the fact, after finding that I am innocent of any wrongdoing, and instead of moving on and considering the time spent researching and finding the data and appealing my case as enough - the extra efforts to come after me, that’s where I draw the line."
Barnett has been through such trials three times before. He tested positive for steroids twice in his first UFC stint back in 2001 and 2002, the former infraction netting him an athletic commission warning, the latter costing him the heavyweight crown he'd won with a second-round TKO of Randy Couture at UFC 36. Barnett also saw a 2009 date with Fedor Emelianenko under the Affliction banner fall through when he tested positive for a steroid metabolite in a pre-fight screening.
The 2009 failed test falls within a 10-year period allowing the USADA to consider him a repeat offender - hence the potential four-year ban (first-time offenders for ostarine face a maximum two-year penance). Barnett expected a reduced sanction once the anti-doping agency confirmed the supplement was tainted, only to be offered a two-year ban before protests from he and his management got it reduced to 18 months.
"I end up no matter what at the mercy of USADA," Barnett 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."
Barnett hasn't fought since he submitted Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night 93 in September 2016, and if his refusal to settle with the USADA does in fact net him a four-year shelving, he'd be 43 years old by the time he's eligible to return. Needless to say, he's none to pleased with the prospect.
"I’m not done fighting. I’d still like to compete. But I want to train and compete and have a reasonable and understandable process to the whole thing."