Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson shocked the MMA world last night when he announced his retirement after a submission loss against light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 210.
Johnson had kept his decision a secret from all but a few of the people closest to him, with not even UFC President Dana White having prior knowledge of the bombshell that he dropped in the Octagon after the fight.
This was far from a spur of the moment decision however, with ‘Rumble’ revealing backstage that it’d actually been on his mind for several months.
“I gave my commitment to another job, something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while,” Johnson told Joe Rogan.
“It’s not MMA related or something like that. It’s time for me to move on to something else.
“I’m tired of getting punched by guys and rolling around on the ground with guys and stuff like that.
“Ain’t nothing fun about that.”
Johnson is remaining tight-lipped about exactly what this new line of work is, though he apparently told Dana White that it was “something big.”
That’s led to a lot of speculation from fans, but he’s not letting the cat out of the bag yet – though he did shoot down rumors that he’s going to pursue a new career in the NFL.
‘Rumble’s’ sudden departure took everyone by surprise.
Despite the fact that his performance on the night was baffling (audio from his coaches at Octagon-side revealed even they had no idea why he was trying to wrestle with Cormier), and that he’s now been unsuccessful in two attempts to take the 205lb title, it still felt like Johnson had a lot left to offer the sport.
After all, he still remains one of the best fighters in the division, he’s easily one of the hardest hitters ever to step into the Octagon, and he hasn’t taken that much punishment over the years as he’s only been stopped by strikes once in 28 fights (and that was due to an eye poke).
Therefore, ‘Rumble’ will be sorely missed in a 205lb weight class that’s already been weakened in recent times, with the likes of Ryan Bader and Phil Davis having jumped ship to Bellator, and it also puts an end to fan’s hopes to one day see Johnson fight Jon Jones in what would have been a very intriguing stylistic match-up.
Also now dead in the water is the hope that Johnson could have one day moved up to add new excitement to the heavyweight class, having alreaady proven he can hang there by defeating Andrei Arlovski a few years ago in the WSOF promotion.
So, all in all this will have been a bitter pill for the UFC to swallow, but Johnson did leave a glimmer of hope when he suggested in his post-fight interview on FOX Sports 1 that he’s not willing to completely rule out the possibility of one day returning to the Octagon.
“I gave something else my commitment. If I don’t like it I can come back and still fight. Hopefully the world will still accept me with open arms…I just have to right now. It’s nothing personal,” he said. “No injuries, nothing with the family. It’s something I just have to do. In due time everybody will know.”
