Josh Barnett has issued a written statement Sunday regarding his decision to leave the UFC.
After failing a 2016 out of competition drug test, Barnett would bring the case to an independent arbitrator in a process that would later vindicate Barnett and prove his innocence. This ending was bittersweet for Barnett, however, as it stole over a year from his career, which is valuable time for anyone, let alone a 40-year old competitor. News broke days ago that it was Barnett who requested his UFC release. And today, Barnett took to Facebook to give a detailed explanation as to what prompted his decision:
“The UFC has a structure in place to create their stories, their way, and it’s a good way, but it’s not my way – it’s not my story. The call for adventure is still within me, and I wish to exercise it. I long to go back more to the way of the early days of MMA, traveling the world to exotic places fighting in different rules, rings or cages or who knows what, fighters that have been under the radar; the unknown. There are so many athletes and places that I want to fight, and by going my own way, I will have the ability to try and create that story and make these opportunities a reality, a reality I wouldn’t have been able to make if I stayed in the UFC.”
Although the call for adventure was enticing to Barnett, as reported, the USADA litigation certainly made an impact on Barnett’s non-future with the UFC:
“The debacle with USADA over the last year and a half has also influenced my decision to exit the UFC. Their dogged insistence to punish me for what they absolutely knew was an issue of contamination was unethical. By trying to manufacture any reason they could legitimize to increase sanctions against me was unacceptable. For their stance to necessitate my retaining counsel and do legal battle with them in the presence of an arbitrator was unnecessary. They preferred an adversarial to a just and fair process. I cannot in good conscience trust them to act in good faith or perhaps may even wish to look to enact some sort of vengeance in an attempt to cancel out my victory against them in arbitration. It’s not the kind of environment that I want to spend the final years of my career in.
“The UFC has been very good to me and a great place to fight, but what time I have left in this sport I need to be the one calling the shots and creating the battle plans. I hear the call for high adventure and I will oblige.”
Will you be watching Josh Barnett in his next adventures outside of the UFC?
