It looks like Anthony Johnson will not retire from mixed martial arts until he gets to fight Ryan Bader.
Anthony Johnson, who has a record of 20-5 MMA and 11-5 UFC, has recently expressed his desire to fight MMA light heavyweight Ryan Bader, who has a current record of 20-4 MMA and 13-4 UFC. However, “Darth” didn’t really have the same interest in the fight because he wanted to a chance for a title instead.
Even though Ryan Bader stands at the 4th spot of the NOS Energy Drink MMA light heavyweight rankings and was able to get the second longest winning streak with five wins in a row- all by decision, Johnson still believes that this isn’t enough for him to get a chance to fight for a UFC title. Anthony Johnson, on the other hand, is ranked one spot ahead of Bader in the said NOS Energy Drink rankings.
When “Rumble” came across Bader’s statements about him, the mixed martial arts light heavyweight fighter shot back and expressed his thoughts on Facebook. Here’s what he said:
“Just read that Ryan Bader said he’s the number one contender. Well, imo, he isn’t by any means. How can a true athlete feel that he/she is the next best in line for a title shot when they haven’t fought anybody in the top 3 of rankings?
Have some pride! Don’t run or hide…
Let’s fight to see who’s the real number one contender.
I WANT TO FIGHT YOU RYAN BADER! I respect you and your abilities, but LET’S FIGHT AND SEE WHO’S THE REAL NUMBER ONE CONTENDER!
Are you up for the challenge? I’ll be waiting, Sir…”
Normally, Bader would probably be granted a championship fight given his amazing record and consistency in fight results. However, the light heavyweight title situation is not that ordinary as of the moment.
MMA champion Daniel Cormier had the chance to fight for his belt for first time when he went against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 earlier this month. Fortunately, Cormier was able to hold on to his belt by split-decision.
Cormier and Bader have reportedly been in bad terms in the past. With this, a fight between these two amazing fighters would actually be a good and sellable event. However, this possible fight might be overshadowed by Jon Jones’ return.
Jones has been out of the octagon because of his direct involvement in a hit-and-run accident last April. Because of this incident, Jones was suspended indefinitely and was stripped off his title. But just recently, “Bones” pleaded guilty with the said violation and was able to come up with an agreement which will allow him to fight back in the octagon. Being blessed to have a second chance, Jones looks like he’s ready to regain his position and make up for the lost time.
UFC President Dana White has already released a statement confirming Jones’ possible title fight against Cormier as soon as his suspension is lifted. This would be a possible epic fight because Jones already won over Cormier last January during the UFC 182.
Even though Bader was able to win all of his fights in the past two year, sadly, he has to get at least one more win before he can get into a championship fight.
Johnson, on the other hand, is trying to get a chance into a second UFC MMA title fight after he lost to Cormier last May. Johnson said that he thinks he is the most logical candidate to go against Bader.
