On Friday at the weigh-ins for UFC 142 in Rio, Anthony Johnson was all set to make his long-awaited debut at middleweight. The only problem is he came in as a light heavyweight. Because of this, it appears that Johnson will find himself as a free agent in the MMA world.
Much to the dismay of Dana White and fans all over the world, Johnson weighed in at 197 pounds, missing the 186-pound limit by an incredible 11 pounds.
After missing weight for his fight against Vitor Belfort, there was an agreement made that the fight would go on as long as Johnson was not over 205 pounds. Per the UFC’s official Twitter account, Johnson weighed in this morning just a hair over 204 pounds.
Come fight time, the difference in weight was not much, but Johnson still appeared to be the much larger man. During the pay-per-view, it was announced that Johnson weighed 211 pounds walking into the Octagon, while Belfort weighed only six pounds less.
While Belfort had some troubles early, Johnson gassed out quickly, and Belfort ended the fight with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
Leading in to the fight, many wondered if Johnson’s fight against Belfort would be his last, considering this was the third time Johnson had failed to make weight for an UFC fight.
This question was answered after the event, as Dana White told John Anik during the UFC on Fuel post-fight show that “We’re probably going to cut Anthony Johnson. Three strikes and you’re out.”
Who knows what the future holds for Johnson, but you can bet that it’s not going to include any fights inside the Octagon anytime soon.
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