Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has revealed the one fight that helped make his decision to return to the UFC.
Johnson announced his retirement back in April 2017. After suffering a second submission loss to Daniel Cormier, “Rumble” decided to move on from MMA competition. Johnson entered the medical marijuana business and packed on some serious muscle, easily surpassing the heavyweight limit. Johnson is still jacked but he’s been slimming down in an effort to make a UFC return.
Rumble Johnson Takes Inspiration From DC vs. Miocic 2
MMAJunkie.com spoke to Johnson, who explained how Cormier’s TKO loss in his rematch with Stipe Miocic helped inspire him to make a comeback.
“(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.’”
Johnson and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, said that a heavyweight return was in the cards. “Rumble” recently changed his tune just a tad bit, saying he’s even willing to fight at light heavyweight again. “Rumble” still needs to reenter the USADA testing pool, which he plans on doing soon.
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