Anthony Johnson’s second chance at becoming a UFC champ was once again delayed when light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier had to pull out of their UFC 206 rematch with a torn groin muscle. The fighter called “Rumble” turned down the UFC’s offer to fight middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi for the interim title, opting instead to wait for Daniel Cormier to heal up. But recently, Anthony Johnson has said he is still open to fighting at UFC 206 in Toronto… even if it were against a heavyweight.
“If I go out there and fight him and win, it means nothing. I’m the fake champ. That’s really what the interim champ is. He’s the fake champ and if I lose, I start from scratch, I lose everything. I’m not going to take that chance. I said I’ll wait and take my chances on DC but I’ve got some things in mind, I might try and do at different weight classes,” Anthony Johnson told FOX Sports.
“Yeah, I’ll fight at heavyweight if it’s a fun fight,” Rumble added. “I’d definitely try it out. I always said I was going up to heavyweight in the UFC before I retired anyways. I might as well try it out if I get the opportunity.”
As noted by FOX Sports, Anthony Johnson once fought at heavyweight in 2013, defeating Andrei Arlovski. In the opening round of that fight, Johnson broke Arlovski’s jaw.
For now, the UFC has set the interim featherweight title matchup between Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway as the main event for Toronto. The announcement came following news that Conor McGregor had “relinquished” his featherweight title.
Daniel Cormier won the light heavyweight championship against Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 via unanimous decision, in a fight where Rumble knocked DC down in the first round before being submitted via rear naked choke in the third.
