Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett Signs With Bellator
Josh Barnett is another former UFC employee recently joined a Bellator MMA.
Barnett inked a six-fight deal with Bellator earlier on Monday (Mon., April 1, 2019) live on Ariel Helwani’ MMA show.
Breaking: @JoshLBarnett signs with @BellatorMMA (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/cazASAmrEz
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 1, 2019
Even Bellator’s CEO Scott Coker also welcomes Barnett to the promotion via Twitter.
"As man fights man
In the epic struggle for survivalThe Warmaster shall reign
With oppression fed by a burning hate"Here I come @BellatorMMA https://t.co/zJmKaERjHV
— 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 (@JoshLBarnett) April 1, 2019
Early last year (2018) a bruising big man Josh Barnett cleared by the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) after he flagged for potential doping violation for an out-of-competition drug test back in 2016. Barnett sat on sidelines for two years. Then March of the same year, Josh won an arbitration over USADA, which allows him to resume his fighting career. Later “The Babyfaced Assassin” released a statement and bashed USADA for dragging a case for more than 16 months to reach to reprimand.
In June 2018, Barnett was released by Endeavor-owned mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion after a five year run with the company. Further details on his release weren’t disclosed.
It’s unknown when he’ll make his promotional debut but Josh hinted to make a return in July. Barnett last fought back in 2016 where he scored a submission victory over Andrei Arlovski at UFC Hamburg.
