The State of Texas has issued Strikeforce heavyweight Josh ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ Barnett a combative sports license for his Grand Prix tournament bout against Brett Rogers for this weekends Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event.
MMAFighting.com spoke with a member of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), who confirmed that Barnett had indeed been granted a license.
Media, and fans alike, had been concerned ever since Barnett’s announced participation in the tournament, that he would not be granted a license to fight anywhere in North America over past licensing suspensions for positive steroid use.
Concerns over Barnett’s licensing arise from previous incidents from 2002 and 2009.
In 2002, Barnett was suspended after a positive drug test showed the use of steroids following his win over Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title. The Nevada State Athletic Commission issued him with a six month suspension, which subsequently saw Barnett stripped of the belt.
Following two positive tests for steroids prior to a scheduled bout with Fedor Emelianenko in 2009 Barenett was denied a license to participate at the “Affliction: Trilogy” event by the California State Athletic Commission. This led to the event being cancelled and Affliction collapsing as a mixed martial arts promotion. Since then, ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ has yet to resolve his licensing issue with the CSAC.
This time, according to Susan Standford the Public Information Officer for the TDLR, ‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ has been given a license after providing a clean drug test as well as the usual pre-fight paperwork and medical clearances.