Josh Barnett skipping CSAC hearing

[keithlewis]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/22064/strikef ... anyway.mma

It appears for now that Josh Barnett will not go before the California State Athletic Commission prior his appearance in Strikeforce's upcoming heavyweight grand prix.

Barnett missed a Jan. 10 deadline to address a fight-license application he filed with CSAC two months after signing a contract with the California-based promotion.

CSAC officials will move forward anyway during a Feb. 4 meeting in Los Angeles and make a ruling on the application, CSAC Executive Director George Dodd on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com).

Dodd added he'll issue a recommendation on the matter before the commission issues its ruling.

Barnett was announced this past week as a participant in the eight-man tournament and is slotted to face Brett Rogers in late March or early April in the competition's second quarterfinal event, which has yet to receive a date or location. The tournament kicks off Feb. 12 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., and features two quarterfinal matchups: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Silva and Andrei Arlovski vs. Sergei Kharitonov.

From the start, Barnett's issues with the CSAC have cast doubt on his inclusion.

Barnett, though, said he "intended to do whatever it takes to get in the ring" while admitting he was unsure of whether he would appear at the Feb. 4 meeting.

"There are still some things I have to figure out with that with (legal) counsel and Strikeforce, and also, to hear something from the commission as well as to what exactly they intend to do or want," he told MMAjunkie.com Radio on Monday. "I definitely don't want to spend my time and fly up there to be ambushed."

A Dec. 2 appearance before the commission that Barnett believed would precede his re-licensure came to an abrupt halt. The California State Attorney's Office questioned Barnett about testing positive for performance-enhancers in June 2009, about a month before a scheduled bout with Fedor Emelianenko at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning." (The event was soon after canceled.)

"I'm a little caught off guard by this because I was asked to come here," Barnett said at the hearing. "I was asked to provide a (urine) sample to reapply. This is fine, but I do feel slightly unprepared. I did not bring any counsel. I did not come here to appeal. I just came here on my own to speak to the commission as an individual."

He asked for and was granted a continuance to appear before the commission at a later date, which was expected to be the Feb. 4 meeting.

Barnett (29-5 MMA, 0-0 SF) claims he's been kept in the dark about the process of the December and February meetings while Dodd said the fighter has been notified about both.

But regardless of whether Barnett's application is approved or denied, he currently is not on a registry of fighters under suspension that would preclude getting a fight license in the U.S. A one-year suspension triggered by his positive test ended this past June.

"His suspension is off the registry, and a denial doesn't go on the registry because that's each state's determination to make, as far as licensing an individual," Dodd said. "Not for me."

Although California, Nevada, and New Jersey are unlikely to grant the fighter a license, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told ESPN.com that several athletic commissions are willing to grant him a license provided that he passes a pre-fight test for steroids.

Barnett appealed his suspension with the CSAC following the June 2009 positive test, but the proceedings were delayed on three separate occasions. In the meantime, his suspension ended.

Now, it's a matter of whether he's willing to answer questions about his alleged steroid use in order to get a license in California. It looks like he won't have to make that choice.

Meanwhile, the heavyweight said he's training with the expectation of appearing in the tournament.

"I'm training like I'm fighting," Barnett said.

[keithlewis]

Here is what Barnett had to say regarding steroids to http://www.mmafighting.com

"I think everybody is doing whatever they can to get an edge on their opponent, no matter what, be it taking anything whether it's illegal or legal. Is it working? I don't really know. I don't think so. I wouldn't know (a percentage of fighters using PEDs) and even if I did I wouldn't say even if I did. ... I'm a big proponent of 'What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room.' I'm no snitch. But I fought when there wasn't regulatory bodies, and I fought guys who were way jacked to the gills (on steroids). I never cared – I just fought them anyways. I don't care what pill you take or what shot or what new supplement or what diet you do. There's only so much of anything that can really ever help you, and the rest of it is whether you've got it or you don't."