Anthony Johnson was once one of the most feared knockout artists on the UFC’s roster.
Recently, the two-time UFC light-heavyweight title challenger snubbed his comeback rumors when he recently attended a bare-knuckle boxing event.
Johnson has no intentions of coming back to MMA. However, he says he will only return to the UFC if Jon Jones is staring across the Octagon.
Johnson said,
“The only way I’d come out of retirement is if Jon Jones goes to heavyweight, and then that’s when I’ll come out of retirement and fight Jon, I mean, that’s the only guy I want to fight. Because after him, I can officially say I did my job, (and) my mission is complete. Although I didn’t win a title, I fought the best of the best.”
Johnson (22-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) has not made it to the Octagon for almost two years. He retired after a second loss to former champ Daniel Cormier.
Anthony Johnson nearly got a chance to fight Jones in his prime. Both were scheduled to fight at UFC 187 in May 2015. However, Jones’ involvement in a hit-and-run effectively cancelled the fight. From there on, the fight never materialized. Johnson then had a fight with Cormier where he suffered his first defeat in a bout for the vacant title.
Jon Jones reclaimed the light-heavyweight title this past December with a second win over Alexander Gustafsson (18-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at UFC 232.
After retirement, Johnson bulked up as a bodybuilder and can only fight anything in heavyweight domain.
Anthony Johnson was all praise about UFC President Dana White for motivating him to retire and turn to business.
“A lot of people talk trash about Dana White, how he’s a snake and how he’s bad for the sport. You know what? Dana, he’s just smart. He’s a businessman.”
“Being in the cage and fighting – this happened during the fight, I think after I knocked somebody out. I don’t remember who it was. I remember looking at Dana on the other side of the cage and thinking, ‘Damn, I just put in all this work, and I’m getting the victory and feeling like a winner, but the dude on the other side of the cage is celebrating more than me right now, because he’s not taking one punch, he’s not running one mile, not doing one sit-up or push-up, and he’s making a grip of money.’ I was like, yeah, it’s time for a career change.”
