photos by Josh Hedges/Mike Roach/UFC
Heavyweight fighter Josh ‘The Warmaster’ Barnett (31-5) was granted a conditional fighters license by the California State Athletic Commission on Monday, allowing him to step into the cage on May 19, 2012 to face Daniel Cormier in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Final in San Jose.
The Commission met in Los Angeles and voted in favor of 4-2 to grant Barnett a license on the condition that he pass a random urine drug test prior to the upcoming San Jose show.
Barnett failed a pre-drug test in 2009, for a scheduled bout versus Fedor Emelianenko at the “Affliction: Trilogy” show. ‘The Warmaster’ was denied a license by the CSAC which lead to the fall of Affliction as an mma promotion. Since that time Barnett and the CSAC had scheduled several meetings, all of which were postponed leading to Barnett’s eventual withdrawal for licensing in that state.
Now it appears that enough time has passed and the commission is willing to give him one more chance, with Barnett admitting that should he fail another time that his career would likely be over as a pro-fighter.
Barnett also tested positive, twice, for a banned substance back in 2002 after defeating Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title. Barnett was immediately stripped of the title and kicked out of the UFC.