Tag: Anthony Johnson

Anthony Johnson doesn’t expect to get ‘mopped up’ like other un-retired UFC fighters

Anthony Johnson doesn’t expect his UFC comeback to go the way of many others who’ve come out of retirement to fight.

[autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] has changed his mind about fighting, but he says he did so for good reason.

Once retired, Johnson (22-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC), a former UFC light heavyweight title challenger, is back in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency testing pool in anticipation of an MMA comeback.

Still under contract with the UFC, Johnson also serves as an ambassador for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, which held a press conference Tuesday. Johnson was in attendance and answered a few questions pertaining to his fighting future.

Johnson said his love for MMA, paired with the lack of damage he took during his career, made him confident his career wouldn’t take a sharp plummet should he return.

“Honestly, I miss the sport,” Johnson said. “I miss the sport. I miss competing. I know at one point I was against guys coming back from retirement. You just see them get mopped up. B.J. Penn came back, got mopped up. I’ve seen everyone that came back out of retirement get mopped up. I just don’t want to be one of those guys to get mopped up, but I still feel good. I have no injuries.

“While I was in the UFC, I didn’t really get hit much unless I lost, and that wasn’t often. But you never know. I got a couple more fights on my contract with the UFC, and then after that, I may fight for (BKFC president) Dave (Feldman).”

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Johnson was also asked about his interest in bare-knuckle fighting, to which he did not rule out the possibility in the the future.

“These guys in bare-knuckle are a different kind of beast,” Johnson said. “MMA fighters are badasses, but to get punched with some knuckles, it takes a different type of mentality to like that. And I don’t like getting hit. We’ll see. It takes a lot of heart and pride and toughness (to do bare-knuckle).

“… These bare-knuckle fighters are something different. They’re crazy. But I like crazy. And the world is crazy right now, so why not join everything, have some fun? Join the movement of craziness, and have some fun.”

Johnson has not competed since a UFC 210 title loss to Daniel Cormier in April 2017. The loss was his second in five fights, having also lost to Cormier at UFC 187 in May 2015.

There is currently no known timeline or opponent for Johnson’s return.

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Top five cornerbacks Texas will face in 2020

After laying out the top five QB, RB, and WRs Texas will face in 2020, we now go to the opposite side of the ball and look at cornerbacks. 

After laying out the top five quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receiver Texas will face in 2020, we now go to the opposite side of the ball and look at cornerbacks.

For a conference that loves to air the ball out, the Big 12 has some incredible cornerbacks. Add in the top corner in the country from the SEC and Texas will have their hands full next season.

Wide receiver is a big question for the Longhorns going into the season. Players such as Brennan Eagles and Tarik Black are expected to step up on the outside. These five guys will be trying to stop them and limit Sam Ehlinger.

Here are the top five corners Texas will face in 2020:

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MMA’s week out of the cage: 236-pound Anthony Johnson begins ‘mini camp’ for UFC return

Check out the best social media posts from fighters and their lives outside of the cage in the past week.

Social media has become a significant part of the sporting landscape. But few, if any, professional sports match the level of interaction and personal access provided by MMA.

In an individual competition in which nearly every athlete is chasing the same goal of financial success and championship glory, it’s important for fighters to provide insight into their lives in order to connect with fans and gain followings.

Although the life of a fighter often can be mundane and repetitive, there still are moments of interest that take place outside the cage, ring or training room. Here are some of the most interesting of those occurrences from the past week.

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[autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] on comeback trail

May the 4th be with you

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Happy May the 4th #maythe4thbewithyou

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Animals of Instagram

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Swimming lessons

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🐯

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Weekly eats

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Daniel Cormier ponders which UFC rivalry he considers his biggest

Whether you pick Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, or Anthony Johnson, all of Daniel Cormier’s rivals provided memorable high-stakes fights.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] has taken part in a number of big-time rivalries during his UFC career.

The out-of-the-cage heat between DC and [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] was unlike anything we’ve seen in mixed martial arts before or since. The rivalry between Cormier and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] is an epic pure sports matchup between two world-class champions. Cormier’s fights with [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] were big deals, too.

But there’s a common thread among the six fights DC had with his most notable foes: All of them were for a championship, either an interim title or the undisputed version. A third title fight with Miocic is likely to follow, too.

So, when MMA Junkie Radio asked Cormier – who is expected to retire, win or lose, after the next Miocic fight – which rivalry her considers the biggest of his career, he settled on one fact: that all of his fights with Jones, Miocic, and Johnson were such high-stakes affairs, the rivalries were of secondary importance when they stepped into the cage on fight night.

Sure, it makes for fun bar banter on who might have been his single biggest rival. But a career spent in championship fights against the best over a span of several years speaks to Cormier’s legacy better than any one fight could.

“The importance of the fight is because of the belt,” Cormier said. “You can fight guys multiple times. But if you’re fighting these guys so many times with the belt on the line, that speaks to you and your opponent and the ability of both of these guys.”

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Once you bring it down to a one-on-one level, of course, there are differences. At the end of the day, Jones beating Cormier twice (one of which was later ruled a no contest due to Jones flunking a drug test) and Cormier defeating Johnson twice matters. And, regardless of who takes the final fight between Cormier and Miocic, the fact they both hold a knockout win over the other puts them on equal footing.

“The reality is, for everything else that Jon and I were, I think that’s going to be the one that stands the test of time because it was so bitter,” Cormier said. “But on the competitive side, I think Miocic will be that guy that, when we walk away from this game, you go, ‘Wow, DC had two really big series of fights,’ and I think three, honestly, because Anthony Johnson falls in line with that, too.

“I’m just one of those guys who was lucky enough to fight big fights, fight big fights often, and have guys that were good enough to, win or lose, get right back to those big, big fights. The great thing about those rivalries – between the three guys, seven fights – is that every one of them was for a UFC championship. That, to me, is a bigger deal than even having those rivalries.”

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Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson reveals the fight that inspired his UFC return

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson tells MMA Junkie what sparked his decision to return to action.

For fight fans searching for something to look forward to once the coronavirus pandemic has eased, [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag]’s return to UFC action might just fit the bill.

The explosive former light heavyweight contender said during a recent Dominance MMA media day, where he said he was open to coming back at either light heavyweight or heavyweight – and even suggested he could compete in both.

“I feel good. I’m healthy, aside from the typical injuries, bruises and stuff like that,” Johnson told MMA Junkie. “I’m 230, 235 (pounds), somewhere around that, so I don’t mind going down to light heavy or just staying at heavy. I’ll fight in both weight classes.

“Everything’s open. I feel good. I’ll probably go down to light heavyweight, but I’m not against staying up and fighting at heavyweight. Everybody in both weight classes are very talented, so I’m looking forward to the challenges that I’ve got coming.”

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Up until recently, it looked like “Rumble” had completely moved on from his MMA career, but now all that has changed, with Johnson making the decision to return.

“No excuses, I was really done. I wanted nothing more to do with MMA,” Johnson said. “I didn’t want to work on grappling anymore, I didn’t want to do any wrestling, I got tired of punching and kicking and all that stuff. I was really checked out. I would say this: I probably wasn’t as mature back then, either. I’ve had time to reflect on a lot of things and grow as a person.

“I don’t mind getting on the ground now and rolling around. Obviously I did a grappling match. I did a sumo match, so obviously rolling around and doing all that weird stuff is not out of the norm now.”

The reason for his change of heart was one of the biggest fights in recent years, which reminded him of his own fighting talents and reignited the competitive spark that eventually led to his decision.

“(It was) DC and Stipe 2 (at UFC 241),” he said. “I was actually watching them fight, saw them fight, and that was actually probably the third or fourth fight I’d watched since I retired. When I said I was done with MMA I was really done with MMA. At least, mentally I felt like I was done. I saw them fight, saw them go at it. They were the two best guys at that time. They displayed so much skill and talent. Everybody else probably saw a normal fight where they weren’t doing that much, but I saw skill, talent, the timing, the setups. Everything was at such a high level. It just made me say, ‘You know what, I can still do that, so I’m going to go out there and give it a shot.'”

Now, with “Rumble” eyeing a return, his aim isn’t just to compete. It’s to continue his MMA journey all the way to a UFC title. And if that means a fight with Jon Jones, so be it.

“I want to beat whoever has the belt, (and) most likely Jon will have the belt,” Johnson said. “I should be fighting by the end of the year.”

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3 XFL players the Seattle Seahawks could pursue in free agency

The XFL is allowing players to be signed by NFL teams starting Monday, March 23. Here are three players the Seattle Seahawks should pursue.

The XFL officially announced the cancellation of the rest of the 2020 season, bringing a short end to the league’s recreation thanks to the coronavirus.

While many felt the league’s sustainability was in question, the league’s innovative rules and overall talent level seemed sustainable, and as of now they have every intention of making a return in 2021.

However – they’ll likely have to do it without many of their best players, as the NFL will be free to sign players from the XFL onto their rosters starting Monday, March 23 at 6:00 a.m. PT.

Many of the XFL’s star players will now get a chance to show what they can do at the game’s highest level.

The Seahawks have already showed interest in at least one key player from the XFL ranks, and there are a handful of others who could be of interest to this team as they look to build a 90-man roster ahead of training camp.

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Anthony Johnson: UFC comeback on track, but still haven’t entered USADA pool

Anthony Johnson believes he will officially re-enter the USADA testing pool in April, completing the final step for his UFC return.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] is training hard and still planning his UFC return, however, he’s yet to complete a crucial step that would allow him to step back in the octagon.

After retiring from the sport following a title-fight loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC 210 in April 2017, Johnson (22-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) announced his intentions to return to MMA competition last year. Originally it seemed as though it would happen by now, but “Rumble” still has no fights on the books.

That’s because Johnson has yet to re-enter the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool, where he must submit six months of clean tests before he’s eligible to compete. According to Johnson, his targeted entry date is “probably next month,” which would mean returning no earlier than September.

“Everything is going smooth,” Johnson told MMA Junkie at a recent Dominance MMA media day. “No date set, yet. I just plan on catching a lot of bodies when I come back, that’s all I know. It don’t matter if it’s heavyweight or light heavyweight. I’ll knock ’em all out. It don’t matter.”

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Due to the time off, it will be difficult to tell where Johnson’s skills stand among his peers until he gets back in the cage, especially because he admitted to spending plenty of time away from the gym during his hiatus.

Before Johnson, left, though, he was a top-ranked light heavyweight contender who twice fought for UFC gold. It’s possible he could return at heavyweight, too, which would be remarkable considering he started his UFC run in the welterweight division.

Johnson, 36, has been training hard since declaring his intention to resume fighting. He said he can be a top contender at either division. Marquee names in Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones hold those title, and Johnson would happily take on either of them, should he get himself in position to do so.

“I weigh 230, 235 right now – something like that,” Johnson said. “I’ll fight both. It don’t matter what weight. (Miocic and Jones are) both athletes, they’re both champions, they’re both great fighters. The best ever in both weight classes. So, I’ll be glad to take the opportunity to fight both of them, no matter what.”

At the time of his retirement, Johnson seemed at peace with his decision to walk away. As is commonplace in the sport, though, athletes often struggle to stay away forever. Johnson got lured back, and he said it’s because he still has more to give.

“When you feel like you’ve still got it, or you still feel like you have something to prove, you’re willing to go out there and sacrifice your life pretty much to go out there and prove it,” Johnson said. “Not just to everybody else, but to yourself.”

Watch Curtis Blaydes beat ‘Rumble’ Johnson … in a sumo wrestling match

UFC stars Curtis Blaydes and Anthony Johnson partake in a sumo wrestling match in Miami.

With no MMA fights currently lined up, [autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] and [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] decided to dip their toes into the world of sumo wrestling, and the results were thoroughly entertaining.

Yup, they competed in sumo. Gear on, bare backsides, mawashi belts and everything.

The SubStars grappling event took place Friday night in Miami, where Blaydes and Johnson took on sumo wrestlers Ryuichi Yamamoto and Takeshi Amitani, respectively, in a “Celebrity Sumo Round Robin” before squaring off with each other in an all-MMA sumo showdown.

Blaydes was first up, as he took on lighter-weight opposition in the form of 210-pound sumo champion Amitani, but the seasoned sumo operator was able to quickly drag Blaydes to the ground, and eventually ended things with a big hip toss.

Meanwhile, Johnson faced Yamamoto, who’s believed to be the heaviest Japanese-born sumo wrestler in the world (and, who knows, perhaps the heaviest Japanese person ever), at a whopping 600 pounds.

The usually intimidating “Rumble” was picked up like a small child by Yamamoto before eventually being thrown out of the circle.

Finally, Blaydes and Johnson faced off for bragging rights of being MMA’s foremost sumo wrestler.

In Round 1, Johnson was able to quickly drag Blaydes down, where Blaydes managed to stay on his feet by pinning his hand down on the mat. But in Round 2, Blaydes used Johnson’s forward momentum to drag him out of the ring and tie things up at one round apiece.

Then, in the third and deciding round, Blaydes utilized an inside trip to take Johnson down and win the match.

It kept the competitive juices flowing for Blaydes, who is waiting patiently for a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, while for Johnson it was a novel way to get back into competition after his summer appearance at Quintet Ultra.

It also teased a matchup that could potentially be made a little further down the line, with “Rumble” considering a return to the octagon as a heavyweight. Now he’s had a little taste of what it’s like to grapple with one of the heavyweight division’s best.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.