Josh Barnett’s return to the UFC appears to be in the midst of a hang up.
According to MMAfighting’s Ariel Helwani, the former heavyweight champion, who became a free agent after the folding of his former promotion Strikeforce, has declined the organization’s latest contract offer.
“We agreed on guaranteed compensation,” Barnett’s agent Leland LaBarre said. “In fact, we never even countered. We accepted their original offer.
“However, there are some outlying issues — one in particular — that as of this point we were unable to agree on.”
Barnett (32-6) is coming off a submission win over Nandor Guelmino on the final Strikeforce card last month.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt last fought for the UFC in March 2002, defeating Randy Couture for the heavyweight title. However, he was stripped of the belt after testing positive for a banned substance.
His relationship with UFC president Dana White has not been the best, but White was hopeful that a deal could be reached. The UFC has not commented publicly on any of the negotiation stumbling blocks.