Barnett’s Bellator Debut Rescheduled

After being pulled from his fight hours before his Bellator debut last December, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett’s debut is nearly set.

Per a report from MMA Fighting, Barnett and Ronny Markes, who were initially set to fight at Bellator 235 in Hawaii, will now face off on March 13th at Bellator 241.

While contracts have not been signed, if the fight is official, this will mark Barnett’s first MMA fight since a 2016 win over Andrei Arlovski for a UFC card in Germany. Following that Barnett ended up wrangled in issues with USADA leading to his release from the UFC.

Since the Arlovski fight Barnett has kept active not only in grappling competitions but as a pro wrestling competitor and co-promoter of events entitled Bloodsport, that feature hybrid style wrestling fights in the style of UWF-I.

This will also be Markes Bellator debut who last competed in June for the PFL, stopping Sigi Pesaleli via TKO.

Bellator 241 is set for March 13th inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut that is headlined by Patricio Pitbull defending his featherweight title against Pedro Carvalho and Daniel Weichel and Emmanuel Sanchez in the final quarter-final of the Bellator featherweight World Grand Prix.