BREAKING: Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson Announces Big News After Jon Jones Vacates Light Heavyweight Title

UFC veteran Anthony Johnson has been teasing a return to the UFC right from spring. Now, the veteran fighter has taken a sure shot step to let the MMA world know that he is serious about competing in the octagon once more. 

The fighter has re-entered the USADA testing pool, which is a requirement for all athletes in the promotion. 

Brett Okamoto revealed that the 36-year-old will return to compete in the light heavyweight division. He tweeted, “Breaking: Anthony Johnson will re-enter the UFC’s mandatory drug testing program this week in anticipation of a comeback, per his manager Ali Abdelaziz. Right now, the plan is to come back as a light heavyweight.”

This means ‘Rumble’ will return to the same division where he had reasonable success. He won ten fights at light heavyweight and earned a shot at the title on two occasions. 

He fell to Daniel Cormier via submission in both 2015 and 2017. Following his second title fight loss, Johnson announced his retirement from the sport. 

Return of Anthony Johnson will spice up the light heavyweight division

Certain fans will see Anthony Johnson’s return immaculately timed as it follows Jon Jones vacating the light heavyweight championship. His presence in the division will add yet another name amongst a series of contenders who have bided their time for the better part of the decade.

Read: BREAKING:Jon Jones Vacates Light Heavyweight Championship

‘Rumble‘ joins Dominick Reyes, Jan Blachowicz, and Thiago Santos in the list of fighters who can make a legitimate claim to the title.

Whilst fans do not expect him to get a title shot immediately, he would get a high-ranked opponent and have a chance to work his way towards the gold. 

Anthony Johnson hasn’t revealed when he is targeting his first fight back. However, given his fight history, it will be an absolute slugfest against whoever he gets matched with. This is because ‘Rumble’ has claimed 16 of his 22 wins by T/KO. 

How excited are you to see Anthony Johnson make his long-awaited return to the UFC? Who do you think the UFC will match him against on his comeback which should be in February as per the USADA policy of six months of testing.