Anthony Johnson just keeps on getting bigger.
When he was competing, Anthony Johnson was one of the most feared knockout artists on the UFC’s roster. However, after being submitted by Daniel Cormier in a UFC light heavyweight title fight for the second time, ‘Rumble’ announced his retirement.
Right there and then inside the Octagon, ‘Rumble’ made the shock announcement to hang up his gloves for good. There were rumours of him going to work with NFL franchise, the Los Angles Rams, but these quickly fell silent. Instead, he entered into the medical marijuana business, citing the danger of concussions and CTE as reasons why he doesn’t want to fight long term.
His manager Ali Abdelaziz then got everyone amped up over a possible return to fighting. According to Abdelaziz, if he was to come back, he’d likely be a heavyweight. Remarkable considering it wasn’t that long ago since we saw him fight at 170lbs.
It has long been said that Johnson is the poster boy against cutting huge amounts of weight. While he was just as feared at welterweight, he also struggled to make the limit. He missed the 171lbs limit twice and also came in heavy for two middleweight contests.
In 2018, it’s pretty clear that Johnson won’t be fighting as low as 185lbs again. Even 205lbs seems like a stretch, judging by his recent posts on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be-nVNJnGAg/?hl=en&taken-by=anthony_rumble
Ariel Helwani said on the MMA Beat that he had heard that ‘Rumble’ was mulling over pursuing a career in bodybuilding. Considering the sheer amount of mass and muscle he has packed on in retired life, he could be onto something.
He fought Andrei Arlovski at heavyweight under the WSOF banner, but even heavyweight ‘Rumble’ didn’t look like this. 2018 Johnson is a very different beast.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeaPpVAHVaN/?hl=en&taken-by=anthony_rumble
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd4KHfgnhjN/?hl=en&taken-by=anthony_rumble
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeoqMTCHHeq/?hl=en&taken-by=anthony_rumble
