• UFC 142

Rumble Johnson not done at welterweight

ESPN staff
November 11, 2011
Anthony Johnson has unfinished business at welterweight © Getty Images
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Anthony Rumble Johnson has revealed he may not stay at middleweight, even if he beats Vitor Belfort at UFC 142.

Johnson has always been a huge welterweight, missing weight on more than one occasion, but next year he will step into the 185lb category to face Belfort. A victory in Brazil would surely make Rumble an instant title contender.

However, it seems Johnson is not completely done with welterweight. Indeed he admits he may return to the 170lb pool directly after the Belfort bout.

"I still want to fight at 170," Johnson told LowKick.com. "But I'm excited about making the jump to 185 and we'll see what happens after this fight is over."

The Belfort fight, it seems, merely resembles a chance for Johnson to fight one of his heroes. Belfort is one of the sport's legendary names, and Rumble remembers when he first met the Phenom.

"I knocked out my opponent [Jonathan Romero] in one minute and nine seconds or something like that," Johnson recalled. "Vitor happened to be in the crowd, Shogun Rua was too.

"After the fight, Vitor gave me props and shook my hand. I never thought I'd be fighting a man who I shook hands with many years ago. I'm a fan of Vitor Belfort and always will be. It's going to be fun fighting him."

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