Through his manager, Shannon Hooper, Josh Barnett released a statement late Wednesday night about his recent failed drug test, which led to the California State Athletic Commission denying him a license to fight Fedor Emelianenko at the now-canceled "Affliction: Trilogy" event. Barnett was never directly quoted in the release."Mr. Barnett vehemently denies intentionally ingesting any banned substances in preparation for the August 1st fight and he is looking forward to presenting his case to the California State Athletic Commission."
Of course, the key word in that phrase is "intentionally." The release also stated that Barnett was "was shocked at these allegations" and is still awaiting the results of his B sample testing. It went onto say that "the documentation that Mr. Barnett has received raises serious questions about the integrity of the sample and the validity of the results themselves."
The CSAC's executive assistant officer, Bill Douglas, told FanHouse last week that he was confident in the validity of the test.
"The inspector that observed this particular test is one of our drug testing experts in terms of the correction procedure, and works on many events of this nature, and oversees a lot of the drug testing that's performed by our staff," Douglas said. "In this particular case, this was a hands-on test that he performed himself. So in terms of the correction procedure, it was flawless as recognized by the laboratory upon delivery of the sample the same day. And in terms of the lab itself, we have been using the same lab that tests the NFL and the International Olympic Games, as recently as the last Games, they tested every sample ever took there. They test the NCAA for all the sports, all minor league baseball. It's a very, very tough lab to dispute - the best of them all."
Douglas also mentioned that this was the first time the California State Athletic Commission had ever performed a random drug test.
The release also mentioned that Barnett was "extremely disappointed" that Affliction decided to cancel "Trilogy."
"Josh is as disappointed as all of his fans and supporters that he will not be fighting on August 1st. He also empathizes with all of the other fighters that were scheduled to appear on the card and shares their frustration and shock at the cancellation of the entire event."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-30-2009 @ 11:45AM
chilly16 said...
DUde its your second time getting caught. At that point you can't just deny it. He is only half a man for taking the denial approach.
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7-30-2009 @ 12:22PM
richardbikle said...
he may have gotten something from a nutritionist/trainer that contained some of the banned substance. Usually you just swallow whatever hand full of vitimns they give you.
7-30-2009 @ 2:57PM
RJ said...
I have to go with richardbikle on this one when you're training with a nutritionist or a strength and conditioning coach especially if it's someone you've worked with before and they give you some vitamins & supplements to take you don't become suspicious and say hey what's in these. You take them.
It just makes him seem so guilty because this isn't the first failed test, but for all any of us know he could've taken something without his knowledge to cause him to fail the test or he could've been set up. You never no. These athletic commissions are crooked look at all the dirt that came out about Armando Garcia after he resigned as the head of the CSAC. The man was a crook & a disgrace.
7-30-2009 @ 10:53PM
kwilbur10 said...
alright. this is what i think, i think he got so scared to fight fedor he injected the steroid into his urine cup. he didn't take the steroids himself he just put it into the cup.
all joking aside. there are a lot of supplements out there that you can get that can trigger something on the piss test. because some supplements are not FDA approved but you can still purchase them from friends and a local vitamin shoppe. but anywho, you would have to take a lot of that supplement to show on the test. so this could be a reason like in sherk's case but i highly doubt it,
7-31-2009 @ 11:01AM
Colonial said...
This excuse is wearing thin. It doesn't matter if he had knowledge of it or not. Its his body, his responsibility. If you are putting random drugs into your body without asking what they are you are just as stupid as someone intentionally cheating.
Even if he didn't intentionally take anything making sure he is legally allowed to fight is part of his job description. Could his coach have slipped him something? Sure, but who is in charge of hiring the coach?
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