In November 2019, Anthony Johnson got the mixed martial arts world buzzing when he announced his return to the octagon. The 36-year-old last fought at UFC 210 against Daniel Cormier; however, the heavyweight ended up suffering his second consecutive loss to the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
After that, Johnson decided to call it quits; however, when speaking to MMA Junkie about his renewed interest in fighting again, the Georgia native states that Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic 2 was a huge reason he decided to come out of retirement:
“(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.'”
There's no indication on how good Johnson is until he fights inside the octagon; however, the heavyweight claims that he’s feeling good thus far and is coming back to claim either the heavyweight or light heavyweight title:
“I want to beat whoever has the belt, (and) most likely Jon will have the belt,” Johnson said. “I should be fighting by the end of the year.”
Check out the full interview where Johnson talks about fighting at lightweight, trying to move on from MMA, and so much more!