Anthony Johnson discusses possible Jon Jones fight: it’s a fight that Jon wants, and I want it too

Shortly after his UFC 210 loss to then light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, brick fisted contender Anthony Johnson announced his plan to retire from MMA. While the fighter nicknamed “Rumble” assured his retirement was probably for good, he did suggest he’d be willing to come back for a future bout with light heavyweight great Jon Jones.

After Jones’ UFC 214 destruction of Daniel Cormier, which he witnessed live, Rumble’s interest in a comeback seems to be inflating. He discussed the possibility on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“It did kind of get me going a little bit, seeing Jon and Daniel in there doing their thing,” he said.  “I don’t know man, we’ll see what happens.”

“You know what, I’m kind of on the fence,” Rumble continued, when pressed about a fight with Jones. “If I was to come back, it would definitely have to be worth it for me, financially, cause I have so much going on already. Things that are great. But if I come back, it would just be to fight the legend in Jon Jones himself, you know what I’m saying? I’ve beaten pretty much everybody else except for Daniel and Jon. And so, Jon got hit with some big punches from Daniel, and I knew if I would have hit him with some of those punches, most likely he would have went down. You know what I mean? But Jon is a hell of a fighter and I have nothing but respect for him and his family.” 

“At the end of the day it’s business, and if the UFC comes at me with something I can’t resist, then I’ll make it happen regardless. I think at the end of the day it’s a fight that Jon wants, and I want it too, because we’re just alpha males like that. That would be the reason that we would want it. Right now I’m happy where I’m at, but it still has to make sense for me to come back financially.”

“I still have my health on the line. All of us have our health on the line, we go out there to train and we go out there to fight in the Octagon, so there’s a lot at stake, considering a fight like this.”

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This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/31/2017.