Rumble To Jones: Keep Your Hands Up Or It’s Lights Out
Light heavyweight runaway freight train Anthony “Rumble” Johnson left the collective mouths of the MMA world hanging wide open last night (Sat., January 24, 2015) when he destroyed heavily favored hometown favorite Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson with a first round stoppage in the main event of UFC on FOX 14 from Tele2 Arena in Stockholm Sweden (watch highlights here).
The win understandably put Johnson in line for the next shot at controversial light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Injuries have played an unfortunate part in Jones’ recent bookings, so naturally that was a concern after “Rumble’s” big win.
But the bruising boxer was quick to dispel any of those notions in a post-fight interview with UFC on FOX, telling analyst Brian Stann that he doesn’t have any nagging injuries right now:
“No, since I’ve been fighting at 205, I’ve come into every fight uninjured. I train smarter, I still train hard, everything has just been working out.”
Johnson also discussed his calm demeanor heading into the Gustafsson bout with Jon Anik, noting that he didn’t have any of the nerves that would often be associated with taking on an elite opponent in hostile territory:
“I didn’t have any nerves. I just knew I had a job that I had to do. My goal is to win a title one day, so I knew I had to get through Alexander, and just I had to make it ugly for him so people wouldn’t doubt me. But regardless of my performance, I’m going against the champ now, so people are still going to doubt me, so I have to prove them wrong too.”
“Rumble” continued on and shifted his focus to his upcoming bout with Jones at the event’s post-fight show on FOX Sports 1, believing himself to be the hardest hitter “Bones” has ever faced but giving praise to the champ. Johnson hopes to put a legendary beating on the longtime titleholder:
“I think I’ll be the hardest puncher he’s ever faced. And he’s faced a lot of top quality guys. Hopefully I can just do things nobody has done to him. Alexander gave him the worst beating he’s ever had. Hopefully I can give him one 10 times worse.”
At the end of the day, “Rumble” had a short but simple message for Jones, and it’s more than difficult to deny his viewpoint right now:
“Keep your hands up, because if you don’t, lights out.”
Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan for USA TODAY Sports
