On Wednesday, news surfaced that Strikeforce heavyweight tournament fighter Josh ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ Barnett had yet to receive his license to fight in Texas. Barnett is scheduled to meet Brett Rogers in one of two remaining quarterfinal bouts for the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament.
Both men are currently slotted for the main card of the June 18, Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
What was not reported, was the fact that Barnett wasn’t the only fighter not licensed for the event.
Speaking on the “Savage Dog Show” at Sherdog.com, Barnett spoke out about the “journalism” grabbing headlines on Wednesday.
“Some MMA — and I use this term loosely — journalist sites decided to poke around and grab some information, and run with it and use my name as the lede, even though there are something like nine other athletes who are still in the process of doing their paperwork…”
“I’ll say this: I’ve filled out all my paperwork. I’ve filled out everything, actually, and everything is going just fine with the athletic commission. Any additional steps they’ve wanted me to do have all been done and [done] within their timeline.
“One thing about Texas is that you can file paperwork, but you can’t get licensed until your medicals are don. Blood work has to be [processed] within 30 days of your event, so there is no point in turning in paperwork a month in advance if you don’t have the [blood work].”