Morning Report: Anthony Johnson says a fight with Jon Jones is ‘just not gonna happen’

For the last 2 years the most anticipated fight in the UFC light heavyweight division has been Jon Jones vs. Anthony Johnson. Unfortunately, that fight has yet to come to fruition and with the recent USADA struggles of Jones, it looks like that fight it never will.

Yesterday, speaking with Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Johnson admitted that he has accepted that that fight will never happen now.

“It’s just not gonna happen — at this point, I know it’s not gonna happen. It is what it is. I’m moving forward. Everybody is moving forward. I’m still shooting high and trying to do what I can in this sport. I’m not focused on Jon anymore. And I can tell you Daniel Cormier, Glover — they’re not focused on Jon, either. Nobody in this division is focused on Jon anymore. That’s a fact.”

Jones and Johnson were scheduled to face each other at UFC 187 for the light heavyweight championship. Then, about a month before the fight, Jones was involved in a hit-and-run accident and the UFC removed him from the fight card, stripped him of his title, and suspended him indefinitely. Daniel Cormier stepped up on short notice and fought Johnson for the vacant 205 lb. belt, choking him out in the third round.

Johnson rebounded with dominant knockouts over Jimi Manuwa and Ryan Bader, and with Jones returning to face Cormier at 200 (a man he had already beaten once before) the general logic was that Jones would reclaim his belt and then his first title defense would be against “Rumble.” Then, just 3 days before UFC 200, Jones was removed from the card for a failed drug test in the lead up to the event. Suddenly, everything was in jeopardy.

“When the UFC 200 stuff first happened, I was just in shock with everything. Maybe for a couple of days or a week or two, I was just extremely disappointed. I was like, ‘Damn, this is just really not gonna happen.’ I was looking forward to it just as much as anyone was. So, it does disappoint me.”

It should disappoint him. Jones is one of the biggest stars in MMA and a fight between the two would be one of the biggest events of the year. Now, Jones is facing a potential 2 year suspension for having estrogen blockers in his system and Johnson, who is 32, doesn’t see himself fighting much longer.

“I ain’t trying to fight until I’m 35. I’m trying to make my money and go on to something different — do bigger and better things with my life. Hell, I don’t want to get punched in the head that damn much. I’ve got other things I want to do.”

This is MMA and fighters often continue fighting long after their target retirement ages so perhaps a Jones-Johnosn bout isn’t all the way buried. But for now at least, Johnson has other things to deal with: he takes on Glover Teixeira in the co-main event of UFC 202. Should he win, Johnson will likely find him rematching Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title.

Perhaps UFC light heavyweight champion Anthony Johnson has a nice enough ring to it to make him want to wait for Jones to return.

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