UFC News: Joe Rogan reveals fantasy Jon Jones fight that he feels we should've seen
What's the story?
UFC commentator and stand up comedian, Joe Rogan, recently revealed a potential matchup for light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Rogan hosted a podcast with retired American mixed martial artist, Din Thomas, where the former expressed his fancy for a clash between Jon Jones and retired UFC light heavyweight legend, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.
In case you didn't know...
Anthony Johnson is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the UFC's light heavyweight division. He has been a highly regarded fighter throughout his MMA career, well renowned for his brutal knockout power.
Johnson last featured as a part of the UFC promotion in his final fight before an unexpected retirement, against Daniel Cormier at UFC 210. Over the years, Johnson has amassed victories against countless top contenders such as Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader, Alexander Gustafsson, and Andrei Arlovski.
On December 29th, 2018, Jones made his return to the sport after a 15-month suspension for illegal performance enhancement drugs that were found to be residing in his system. Jones went on to defeat his slated opponent for the night, Alexander Gustafsson, by stopping him in the third round via a technical knockout. Jones will now make his first title defence as the new 205-pound champion in his upcoming fight at UFC 235, against Anthony Smith, on March 2nd, 2019, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The heart of the matter
In a recent podcast interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, with Din Thomas, host Joe Rogan spoke about one fighter who he would love to see in the Octagon again, especially against the likes of Jon Jones. Rogan picked Anthony "Rumble" Johnson to be an ideal opponent for Jones, who happens to be one of the greatest UFC champions in the history of the business.
“I was really looking forward to that fight, Jon Jones versus Rumble,” he said. “I was really looking forward to that. I wish that fight took place. But for whatever reason, Rumble couldn’t beat the best of the best.”
“He said after he retired, in the fight when he lost to [Daniel Cormier], he goes ‘I’m just good at this.’ He goes ‘I’m not really a fighter,’ he’s like ‘I’m an athlete.’ He goes ‘I’m just really good at this.’ I’m like ‘how the f**k are you not a fighter? You smash people.’ He’s a terrifying fighter, that’s just not his thing.”
Anthony Johnson's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, spoke with Ariel Helwani by saying that a comeback is definitely on the cards, only this time, "Rumble" would return as a heavyweight. He said:
“I talked to Rumble last week, right? And he said if Jon Jones fought DC (Daniel Cormier) as a heavyweight, and if Jon wins, he wants to come back and this is the only fight he thinks he’d come back to fight, Jon Jones."
What's next?
Anthony Johnson currently walks around at 285 pounds and would look toward an extraordinary reason to make a return to MMA.
Do you think Anthony Johnson could crack the Jon Jones code? Leave your thoughts, opinions, and predictions in the comments section below!