UFC on FOX 18 headliner Anthony Johnson plans on retiring within three years

Anthony Johnson

Veteran UFC fighter Anthony Johnson is on the cusp of another title shot in the light heavyweight division, but he’s already got plans to walk away from the sport.

“I plan on retiring within the next, like, three years,” Johnson told MMAjunkie Radio.

If successful in a title eliminator against Ryan Bader (20-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) at UFC on FOX 18, Johnson (20-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) could be close to where he was eight months ago, when he challenged Daniel Cormier for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title.

With ex-champ Jon Jones now reinstated and likely to meet Cormier in a fight between the division’s former and current champ, Johnson may have to wait for his turn. But he claims he will not delay when his time is up in the sport.

“I want to live life without being worried about getting punched and getting up every day and losing weight and all of that craziness,” he said. “I love the sport and respect the sport, but I want to be able to sit back and have a family and enjoy life besides getting up every morning, having some other guy guy all up on top of me.”

UFC on FOX 18 takes place Jan. 30 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The event’s main card airs on FOX following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Johnson made his UFC debut in 2007, just four fights into his professional MMA career. He immediately drew notice in the welterweight division, rattling off a 13-second knockout of Chad Reiner in his first octagon bout.

Over the next four years, he showed flashes of brilliance at 170 pounds with five more knockouts. Yet he struggled to make weight, twice coming in heavy and appearing gaunt at the scale. After coming in overweight for his middleweight debut and losing to ex-champ Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, he was released from his UFC contract.

Johnson, however, reinvented himself as a light heavyweight, winning five straight bouts at 205 pounds to earn an invitation back to the UFC. He immediately got back in the title hunt, knocking out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Alexander Gustafsson to earn a fight against then-champ Jones.

Johnson’s rise during his second UFC stint was shadowed by multiple allegations of domestic violence, for which he was once convicted in 2009. The UFC briefly suspended him and cleared him to fight after a promotion-led investigation. This past August, he agreed to undergo counseling after posting a rant about a woman in response to an incident at a gym.

Asked by MMAjunkie Radio whether he had determined the number of fights he would like to complete before hanging up his gloves, Johnson revealed his timeline.

Coming into UFC on FOX 18, Bader is on a five-fight win streak and recently beat Johnson’s longtime teammate, ex-champ Rashad Evans. Once thought to be a lock for a title shot, Bader, a well-publicized rival and would-be opponent of Cormier, will be forced to prove himself once more against Johnson, who repeatedly called for the bout.

For more on UFC on FOX 18, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.