Why?

“Red tape,” says Barnett.

He fought all of his bouts in 2006 for Pride Fighting Championships. But when Pride FC was purchased by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta – who also happen to be the majority owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship – in March, Barnett’s fighting career was basically put on ice.

To say his relationship with the UFC is tenuous would not be a stretch.

While many former Pride fighters have found their way to the UFC, Barnett is one of the two top free agents that have not, along with Fedor Emelianenko.

He has been talking with many promoters and is optimistic that he will be fighting again soon, but Barnett would not tip his hand as to whether a fight with Fedor is on the immediate horizon. Despite being friends with Emelianenko, he does want that fight to take place.

“It would be a hell of a fight. … I want to fight him is so we can get it over with, so we can train (together).”

In the meantime, Barnett has kept busy with many other projects. He is part of numerous television productions including a documentary about the Pancrase organization that is set to air on Imagination TV and appearances on the acclaimed “The Human Weapon” series and a mixed martial arts segment on The History Channel.

He has also been helping Erik Paulson, who headlines Saturday night’s HDNet Fights in Dallas, Texas, train for his bout with Jeff Ford.

HDNet Fights is the upstart MMA promotion of the billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban.

“(Erik) is ready. He’s been working every day in the gym with us,” said Barnett.

And he indicates that this probably isn’t a one-off deal for Paulson, who is returning to fighting for the first time in more than seven years.

“Erik’s got a lot of gas left in him.

At only 29 years of age, it’s likely that Barnett himself will be around for a while as well.

Check out MMAWeekly.com’s exclusive video interview with Josh Barnett and Bob Sapp from the Playboy Mansion to hear more about Barnett’s thoughts on the fight game, what’s been keeping him busy and his return to the ring.