Why didn't Josh Barnett sign UFC contract? ZUFFA 'unwilling to give him something they gave Eddie Alvarez'

While Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White says a deal for Josh Barnett is still on the table after initially turning it down, it seems "The Warmaster" won't be heading back to the Octagon anytime soon.

At the UFC on FUEL TV 7 post-fight media scrum, White revealed Barnett would have faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos in his return, however, since he didn't sign on the dotted line, the fight, obviously, went up in smoke.

According to Barnett, who gave a statement via his manager to Ariel Helwani on "The MMA Hour," he was more than happy to face "Cigano" in his re-debut for the UFC; however, the contract wasn't up to his standards because the longtime veteran says he should have at least received an offer similar to that of what Eddie Alvarez was offered.

His words:

"I was excited to fight Junior. I thought he was a favorable match up for me, but Zuffa was unwilling to give me something that they gave Eddie Alvarez. No disrespect to Eddie, but I felt it was fair to give it to me as well. Although things seem to be working out well for me, I feel bad for the fans. They wanted me to fight certain guys in the UFC and I really wanted to give them those fights. Once we get the deal we are working on done, the fight the fans scream for will be lost forever."

According to this this report, Alvarez was scheduled to get paid $75,000 to show and another $75, 000 to win purse, including a cut of the pay-per-view (PPV) buys at UFC 159 in which he stood to make an additional $1 for every buy between 200,000 to 400,000 units, $2 for each buy sold between 400,000 to 600,000 units and $2.50 for each buy sold over 600,000 units.

Though it wasn't revealed who the ex-"Baby-Faced Assassin" was close to inking a deal with, it seems the former PRIDE FC heavyweight will put pen to paper with another fight promotion soon and all the dream fights fans have longed for inside the Octagon will never come to fruition.

Any guess as to who you think Barnett is close to landing a deal with?