Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett sues dietary supplement maker over suspension from contaminated supplement
Press Release
11th April 2018
Josh Barnett, a mixed martial artist and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, filed suit against the makers and distributors of a dietary supplement that he alleged was contaminated with an illegal anabolic substance.
The lawsuit, filed today in Superior Court of California in Los Angeles, alleges that the tainted supplement caused Mr. Barnett to fail a routine drug test, which resulted in a 15 month suspension from competition in the UFC. The lawsuit comes after an arbitration ruling in March exonerated Mr. Barnett of culpability for the adverse drug test result.
According to the complaint, the tainted product, which was manufactured by Genkor, was labeled to solely contain a natural and legal plant derived supplement called Tribulus, which Mr. Barnett used as part of his fitness regime. In December 2016, however, a routine drug test conducted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) detected a dangerous anabolic agent, Ostarine, in Barnett’s urine. The resulting investigation conclusively traced the Ostarine to the contaminated Tribulus supplement manufactured by Genkor after Ostarine was also detected in a sealed package of the supplement that USADA purchased independently.
The suspension cost Mr. Barnett, who has a career 35-8 record, numerous expenses and professional opportunities, upwards of $300,000 purse for a UFC bout that he would have fought in September 2017.
Peter Fredman of the Law Office of Peter Fredman is representing Mr. Barnett.
“Mr. Barnett lost crucial time and money from the tail end of his career, which is usually, for a fighter of Barnett’s stature, an opportunity to provide financial stability to his post-fight life, as his name recognition was at its peak,” said Mr. Fredman. “Genkor denied Mr. Barnett those opportunities by lacing, or allowing its product to be laced, with a dangerous and illegal substance.”
The suit is titled Barnett v. Biokor LLC and N1010.
