UFC News: Anthony Johnson coming out of retirement

The fans would love this and so would Dana White. As revealed by Anthony "Rumble" Johnson's manager Ali Abdelaziz, the former Light Heavyweight title contender is planning on filing the paperwork required to return to active competition.

As per the report from ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Johnson will soon rejoin the USADA drug-testing pool, and he intends on returning to fight in UFC's heavyweight division.

Where has Anthony Johnson been?

Johnson last fought on April 27th, 2017 at UFC 210 when he took on Daniel Cormier with the UFC Light Heavyweight title on the line. Rumble lost the fight after DC forced him to tap out from the Rear Naked Choke in the second round.

In what caught everyone off guard, Johnson announced his retirement after the fight and cited outside commitments as one of the reasons behind the premature retirement.

Considered to be one of the most feared knockout artists in the UFC, Johnson was known for his freakish power, which enabled him to finish most of his fights inside the first round itself.

Johnson was seen as a legitimate future champion at the peak of his powers; however, he suffered various weigh-cut issues earlier on his career. He was also accused of not having the necessary cardio to survive long and gruelling fights.

Ever since retiring from active competition, Johnson has been working with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) as the head of fighter relations. He also founded his own Cannabidiol oil company.

When will Anthony Johnson return to UFC?

As per the rules laid down by the UFC and its drug-testing partner - United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA), retired fighters who wish to return must enrol themselves for a six-month testing phase before the date of return.

Abdelaziz revealed to ESPN that Johnson will soon complete the paperwork for the same and is targeting a 2020 return to the Octagon. Johnson (22-6) - who has previously fought in the Heavyweight division - wants to get back to the 205+ lbs division.

His manager stated that Johnson would love to test himself against top-ranked heavyweights such as Alister Overeem and Junior Dos Santos.

Johnson had last year teased a comeback on Instagram and was high on the idea of facing Jon Jones or Daniel Cormier at heavyweight. The Jon Jones fight particularly grabs our attention as Johnson was scheduled to take on the current Light Heavyweight champion back in 2015; however, the dream fight had to be scrapped due to Bones' hit-and-run accident.

The hopes of seeing Jones vs. Johnson have now been revived. Would you like to see the mouthwatering clash at heavyweight? We expect the answer to be a resounding yes.