Following his second defeat to the light heavyweight champion at last night’s UFC 210, KO artist Anthony “Rumble” Johnson announced his retirement.
With the No. 1 ranked light heavyweight contender arguably at the prime of his career, the announcement left many heads spinning.
Following UFC 210, Johnson offered a few vague answers as to why he is leaving the sport.
In the post-fight press conference, Johnson explained that he is leaving for another venture. He wants to do something completely outside of MMA.
“It’s just business. I want to do something besides going to the gym everyday, punching and kicking and rolling around with another dude. (expletive) gets old. I’ve been doing this for so long. I’ve been in sports since I was eight. It’s just time to move on to something different. I won’t say better, but just different.”
Johnson did put the recent football rumors to rest. “Rumble” said that he is not moving on to play in the NFL.
“And no, I am not about to play football for the Rams. Because everybody’s hitting me up and saying some crazy stuff about I’m about to play for the Rams. Why would I go into another sport that’s the same thing as this, and you take all this impact and stuff? That’s absolutely insane.”
Johnson also confirmed that he was planning to retire last night, rather he won the championship belt or not.
Johnson went on to lose to Daniel Cormier in the night’s main event.
Watch the controversial D.C. weigh-in moment too, while you’re here!
