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Barnett speaks on positive test

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Heavyweight JoshBarnett has remained silent since the California State Athletic Commission denied him a license to fight FedorEmelianenko at Affliction "Trilogy" on Aug. 1. The denial was brought after a pre-fight drug test revealed the presence of a banned performance enhancer.

MMAWeekly was scheduled to shoot training footage and a video interview of Barnett on Wednesday, and aired an interview taken prior to the controversy on MMAWeekly radio the same day.

When news of the license denial broke, Barnett's manager, Shannon Hooper, canceled the interview and said interviews would be granted after working with the commission on the issue.

However, early Thursday morning, Barnett issued a blog posting on his official Myspace account responding to the situation.

"Many of you are wondering what's happening," he wrote. "What I can say is that when applying for my license, the CSAC asked for me to submit a urine sample for testing prior to granting my license as they do with everyone, I believe. It was not a random test. I had no reason to believe there would be any issues and went in to submit my sample at the earliest possible opportunity on June 25th. I never once thought there would be a problem.

"My representatives and I are working to gather as much info as possible and handle this situation as best as we can. I am embarrassed and want for nothing more than to resolve this issue and receive a license from the State of California as I have done many times already and for other states as well.

I am very thankful for all the great family, friends and fans that still support me."