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So much for that Anthony Johnson vs. Francis Ngannou dream fight.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight title contender, Anthony Johnson, was expected to make his return to the heavyweight division at some point in 2020, thanks to a recent iron-pumping regimen that had him walking around at 285 pounds.
I guess he suffered from a change of heart, or cold feet, or too many protein farts.
Whatever the case may be, Johnson is now talking about returning to light heavyweight to throw hands with current 205-pound kingpin, Jon Jones. “Bones” had planned to go up to heavyweight anyway, sparing “Rumble” a sizable weight cut, but that didn’t seem to make much difference.
“I’m gonna wait until I get about, when I lose about 10 more pounds, 235, I wanna see how my body feels and then if it feels good, then I’m going to probably make 205,” Johnson told Below the Belt. “We’ll make it happen if I get low enough. We’ll fight at 205. That’s a fight I wanted. I think Jon wanted that fight too, before everything happened. That situation, which, it’s over with, it’s in the past. But that was a fight, that’s why I went up to 205, man.”
While it sounds far-fetched to think the currently-retired Johnson could just walk off the bench and secure a title shot against Jones, the division is giving him some assistance. The top three contenders have already tried — and failed — to unseat “Bones” in their respective title fights.
Jones vs. Johnson was the UFC 187 main event until this happened.
If Johnson could return with a savage knockout win over someone in the Top 5, then it probably wouldn’t take much convincing to get “Rumble” a crack at the 205-pound crown. Assuming Jones hasn’t already agreed to settle his score with this guy.