Dana White Is Already Open to a Possible Anthony Johnson Return


(Jesus Christ Rumble, pull yourself together, will you?) 

If you recall, about a fortnight ago, super middleweight contender Anthony Johnson showed up to the UFC 142 weigh-ins at a Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard Record of 12 pounds heavy for his clash with former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Dana White all but fired Johnson on the spot, labeling him “unprofessional,” to which Johnson responded by laughing at all us ignant haters. After a strong start in his fight with “The Phenom,” Johnson quickly gassed and succumbed to a first round rear-naked choke, and was given his walking papers promptly afterward.

Well, it seems that, despite missing weight for 25% of his UFC bouts, “Rumble” still has an outside chance of getting back into the sport’s highest promotion. When questioned about the issue following the UFC on Fox 2 press conference, White stated:

[Johnson] needs to go fight somewhere else, get some wins and come in on weight. He needs to prove to me that he can be a professional, show up on weight and do the things that he needs to do. [If] he gets a few fights under his belt and does that, we’ll talk.


(Jesus Christ Rumble, pull yourself together, will you?) 

If you recall, about a fortnight ago, super middleweight contender Anthony Johnson showed up to the UFC 142 weigh-ins at a Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard Record of 12 pounds heavy for his clash with former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort. Dana White all but fired Johnson on the spot, labeling him “unprofessional,” to which Johnson responded by laughing at all us ignant haters. After a strong start in his fight with “The Phenom,” Johnson quickly gassed and succumbed to a first round rear-naked choke, and was given his walking papers promptly afterward.

Well, it seems that, despite missing weight for 25% of his UFC bouts, “Rumble” still has an outside chance of getting back into the sport’s highest promotion. When questioned about the issue following the UFC on Fox 2 press conference, White stated:

[Johnson] needs to go fight somewhere else, get some wins and come in on weight. He needs to prove to me that he can be a professional, show up on weight and do the things that he needs to do. [If] he gets a few fights under his belt and does that, we’ll talk.

As we all know, DW has pulled this kind of maneuver before, and perhaps it is too early to discuss Johnson’s possible return, but it is still intriguing to see Dana switch gears on the issue just a couple of weeks after Johnson nearly cost him a co-main event, in Brazil nonetheless.

Love him or hate him, Johnson is a damn entertaining fighter, and if he can begin to take his weight cutting a LOT more seriously, it would be nice to see some more of his “handiwork” (see what I did there?) in the near to distant future. Then again, we hear Man v. Food is seeking a new host for a spin off, so he always has that to fall back on. What do you think of this, Potato Nation? Does Johnson deserve another shot, granted he can get his weight under control? Before you write him off altogether, consider the following:

Johnson/Yoshida

Johnson/Burns

Johnson/Reiner

Johnson/Speer

-Danga