After a long and grueling battle with United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA), Josh Barnett came to a mutual agreement with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to part ways. But, that doesn’t mean “The Warmaster” is completely done fighting. On the contrary, Barnett fully intends to compete in mixed martial arts (MMA) again.
When and where, however, is open for discussion.
"It’s got to excite me. It has to be the right name, the right time, the right setting, it has to fit in with the rest of my schedule," he told MMA Fighting. "I'm not going to lock down to one promoter. I still want to fight, you’ll see me fight some time next year, it’s just a matter of when and where."
Barnett's second run with UFC didn't go too bad, collecting a 3-2 record with wins over Frank Mir and Roy Nelson. In his last outing, Barnett submitted Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night 93 two years ago. Several months after that, Barnett was notified by USADA that he had failed a drug test. After a lengthy back and forth, Barnett was cleared of any wrongdoing as contaminated supplement was tagged of the root of the problem.
But, the damage had already been done, as Barnett no longer felt comfortable fighting for a promotion that's under the ever-present eye of USADA.
The No. 1 option would seem to be to reunite with his former Strikeforce boss Scott Coker, who is currently running the show at Bellator MMA. Interestingly enough, Bellator is currently in the middle of a Heavyweight Grand Prix, similar to the one Barnett competed in under a Coker-led Strikeforce banner before making his UFC return a few years ago.
There is always the international circuit, as Barnett has a big following in Japan stemming from his PRIDE FC days. Still, Barnett isn't in a hurry to get back into the cage. But, when he does return, where do you foresee him landing?