Anthony Johnson Wanted Title Fight Over Jon Jones Fight
Despite the fact that Jon Jones’ fighting future is currently unclear due to his situation with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), UFC President Dana White had shown interest in booking top contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson against “Bones”, the interim champion, rather than giving him a shot at reigning titleholder Daniel Cormier.
Ultimately Johnson received his wish, as he’s set to rematch Cormier in the main event of December 10’s UFC 206 from Toronto Canada. In fact, “Rumble” recently told MMAJunkie that he wasn’t going to accept any other bout aside from a title fight:
“It just came kind of out of the blue, and I said Dana’s crazy,” Johnson said. “I worked my ass off to get this title shot. I’m not about to let him or anybody else get in my way to get it. I wasn’t going to fight unless it was for the title, period. Because I deserved it.”
Johnson and Jones were actually scheduled to fight at April 2015’s UFC 187, but “Bones” was forced to withdraw from the bout due to legal issues. Cormier stepped up to replace him and ended up submitting Johnson to become the undisputed titleholder. Since losing to “DC”, “Rumble” has gone on a tear, scoring three straight knockout victories over the likes of Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira.
With momentum behind him, Johnson is expecting a different outcome against Cormier this time around:
“I’m hungry,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t as hungry the first time because the opponent got changed up at the last minute, so it kind of threw me for a loop. This time I just plan on going out there and fighting. Why worry about who it is? Why worry about the crowd? Why worry about all the hype? I just want to fight.”
Who do you expect to walk away with 205-pound gold in December?
