5 fighters who were expected to be clean but weren't

#3 Josh Barnett

Despite three positive tests, Josh Barnett never looked like a steroid user

Similarly to Tim Sylvia, when UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett became one of the first UFC fighters to be busted for PED use back in 2002 – he tested positive after using DHEA, a banned testosterone booster – it must’ve come as a massive surprise given that his flabby physique, complete with love handles, didn’t exactly scream “steroids”.

Still, it was enough to drive Barnett away from US-based MMA for the best part of a decade. He fought on the Japanese circuit, largely for PRIDE, and it wasn’t until 2008 and the launch of the Affliction promotion that he would return to the States.

Barnett picked up two wins on Affliction’s first two shows and was then matched with the top Heavyweight in the world – Fedor Emelianenko – in the main event of the third. Except ten days before the event, somehow he tested positive again – this time for anabolic steroid drostanolone – and was pulled from the event.

Nobody could believe he’d tested positive – not only because his physique hadn’t improved, but because nobody thought he’d risk getting caught again.

After another stint in Japan, Barnett returned to the US again with StrikeForce and then moved to the UFC in 2013. After putting together a 3-2 run in the Octagon, Barnett then shocked everyone again with a third positive test – this time an out-of-competition one – in December 2016.

He remains under USADA investigation and he’s one of the only fighters to test positive three times – all the time looking like he’d never gone near steroids in his life.