Recent free agent Josh Barnett isn’t done with MMA yet.
After a long and sometimes acrimonious battle with USADA over a positive test that he proved was due to a tainted supplement, Josh Barnett wanted out of the UFC. And in June, his request was granted. The new free agent is free to fight anywhere he wants, and the 40-year-old intends to do that.
But he’s going to be selective about it, and it will probably have to wait for 2019 due to his other interests.
Barnett was on hand at the Quintet 3 open workouts, a grappling event that goes down in October that he’s taking part in, and spoke about his next move in MMA (via MMA Fighting):
“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. 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.”
In the meantime, Barnett will spend his time doing grappling events, being a pro wrestling announcer, and doing some acting work. But one of the pioneers of the sport sounds like he’s not willing to walk away yet.