Report | Warrant issued for Anthony “Rumble” Johnson

A warrant has been issued for former UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. The news is according to a report by BloodyElbow.com’s Tim Bissell.

According to the article, on September 27, Palm Beach County issued the warrant for Johnson. Court documents revealed that the reason for the warrant’s issue was due to Johnson missing a scheduled appointment for a misdemeanour domestic battery charge that Johnson had received earlier this year. The report says that Johnson had recently accepted a plea deal and also completed a court-ordered anger management program before the warrant was issued after he missed his appointment.

Johnson was arrested back in May on a domestic violence charge. According to reports at the time, Johnson had picked up his girlfriend and she called the police on him. He was arrested for domestic violence and pleaded not guilty at the time. As this new report indicates, Johnson later took a plea deal with the court.

This is not the first time Johnson has had troubles with the law. Despite all of this going on in his personal life, Johnson’s manager Ali Abdelaziz recently admitted that he wants to return to the UFC, where he was one of the promotion’s biggest stars for about a decade until his unexpected retirement two years ago.

Johnson (22-6) last competed at UFC 210 in April 2017, when he lost by rear-naked choke submission to Daniel Cormier in the pair’s rematch. Prior to the DC loss, Johnson had reeled off three straight knockout wins over Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader and Jimi Manuwa.  He also holds knockout wins at light heavyweight over Alexander Gustafsson and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, plus a decision win over Phil Davis.

Between 2007 and 2012 Johnson competed as a welterweight and later as a middleweight in the UFC before being released and returning as a light heavyweight. After his short-lived retirement he plans on becoming one of the few fighters in UFC history to compete at a fourth weight class as he will fight at heavyweight when and if he does return to the Octagon.