Anthony Johnson: Jon Jones And I Will Fight One Day
Anthony Johnson is the talk of the town following UFC on FOX 18 after dominating Ryan Bader with a first round knockout in their main event bout from Newark, New Jersey.
The win would presumably mean that Johnson is the No. 1 contender for the light heavyweight title headed for a fight with the winner of Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones, which is tentatively slated for April this year.
Following the fight, Johnson said he is willing to take another fight while waiting for Cormier and Jones to sort out the title situation:
“Yeah (I would take another fight) – that’s a paycheck. “I just want to wait until Jon and ‘DC’ fight then I’ll think about what’s next. Because in this game they can tell you that you have the next title shot and three or four months later, six months later, you’re not fighting for a title.”
Johnson is ready to fight the winner of Cormier vs. Jones and is preparing himself to step in for one of the fighters if they cannot compete.
“That’s the biggest fight of my life,” Johnson said at the post-fight conference. “They want to make me wait that long? I definitely would do it. It gives me plenty of time for me to get ready for whoever. “If somebody gets hurt and they need a replacement I’ll definitely jump in if I’m healthy and able to fight.”
Johnson was scheduled to fight Jones at UFC 187, but those plans were scrapped when the former champ was stripped of the belt andindefinitely suspended by the UFC in conjunction with a hit-and-run accident he was involved in on April 28th. The UFC then booked Johnson vs. Cormier at UFC 187, which saw Cormier beat Johnson.
Johnson feels that he will fight Jones one day.
“Jon and I will fight one day,” Johnson said. “We have mutual respect for each other. We’ve never talked trash about each other, every time we see each other we show each other love. Especially with the media and everything hyping up a fight between him and I. I was supposed to be the guy to knock him out and beat him and all that other stuff. “I think we definitely want to challenge each other and see what we’re made of. We’re just two guys, two alpha-males like that that are just competitive.”
The UFC is expected to announce a date for the Cormier vs. Jones fight soon.
