Anthony Johnson is getting a second opportunity at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gold. “Rumble” will be fighting light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on April 8 in Buffalo, NY. Cormier submitted Johnson via rear-naked choke in their first encounter for the vacant 205-pound title.
Since that bout, Johnson has knocked out three top five ranked UFC light heavyweights in Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader, and Glover Teixeira. Johnson and Cormier were originally set to meet again at UFC 206, but the champion went down with an injury.
The UFC offered “Rumble” a bout with Gegard Mousasi, but he turned it down. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour,” Johnson said he doesn’t regret waiting for “DC:”
“I’m happy with my decision. I have nothing to prove to anybody except for myself. It was nothing against Gegard. He’s an awesome fighter. A lot of people were saying to me, ‘oh it’s an easy fight, it’s an easy fight.’ I’m like, you guys really don’t know mixed martial arts and know this guy. He’s good, I’ve seen him fight in person so he’s a beast. But I had too much to lose and nothing to gain, so why would I take that chance?”
Former UFC light heavyweight title holder Rashad Evans dropped a bombshell when he revealed the Blackzilians were pretty much done. Johnson still trains with Evans and his original coaches and feels attached to the Blackzilians name.
“I still train with Rashad, we’re down at Combat Club and I trained there. But yeah the Blackzilians are pretty much done. I’m still a Blackzilian at heart, I helped start the team. We’ve been through a lot of things, so overall I still love the Blackzilians, it’s just it didn’t last forever. And nothing lasts forever, but the little bit of time that we had together I’m definitely grateful that I was a part of that crew.”
