Josh Barnett Talks Steroids, Strikeforce Tournament

Josh Barnett, former UFC champion and Pride Fighting star, hasn't fought in the U.S. since failing a drug test in 2009. That was his third time to be popped for steroids by an athletic commission testing regime. 

He remains unrepentant and denies having cheated, but he does think other fighters are up to no good as he told Ariel Helwani:

"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," Barnett said. "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."

Barnett also responded to critics who say that his half of the Strikeforce tournament bracket, which features Andrei Arlovski, Sergei Kharitonov, Brett Rogers and Barnett is weak:

"Ain't none of these guys gonna roll over for me," Barnett said. "A guy like Kharitonov or Arlovski, Brett Rogers - none of those people are going to let me past them, for sure. I don't know if they want it as bad as I do, but I know that they want it as bad as however they do. They want to be the champion. So I'm going to expect everybody to show up and fight me with the best them that they've ever been, because they want it bad enough."