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It appears that Anthony
Johnson will be cutting weight when he makes his long-awaited
comeback to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Johnson’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told
ESPN that “Rumble” will enter the UFC’s drug testing pool this
week. He must be available for testing six months before he is
eligible to fight again. Johnson removed him self from USADA
testing following a loss to Daniel
Cormier in a 205-pound title bout at UFC 210 in April 2017.
While Johnson
initially considered making a return at heavyweight after
watching the Cormier-Stipe
Miocic rematch at UFC 241, “Rumble” is now planning on
competing in the light heavyweight division.
Johnson’s news comes on the heels of Cormier’s retirement following
a loss to Miocic in their trilogy at UFC 252 and the announcement
that Jon
Jones has vacated his light heavyweight crown. “Rumble”
challenged for 205-pound gold twice, falling to Cormier via
submission on both occasions.
Johnson, who began his UFC tenure as a welterweight, went 13-6 in
the Las Vegas-based promotion over the course of two separate
stints. Now 36 years old, he owns notable wins over the likes of
Glover
Teixeira, Ryan Bader,
Alexander
Gustafsson, Phil Davis
and Jimi
Manuwa, to name a few.