{"id":242904,"date":"2017-06-23T14:14:36","date_gmt":"2017-06-23T21:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=242904"},"modified":"2017-06-23T14:14:36","modified_gmt":"2017-06-23T21:14:36","slug":"photo-anthony-johnson-back-in-the-gym-helping-prepare-top-light-heavyweight-for-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/anthony-johnson\/photo-anthony-johnson-back-in-the-gym-helping-prepare-top-light-heavyweight-for-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTO | Anthony Johnson back in the gym helping prepare top light heavyweight for fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC title contender Anthony Johnson shocked the MMA community when he announced his retirement<\/a> following his light heavyweight title fight loss to champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 210 in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my last fight,\u201d Johnson told Joe Rogan in the post-fight Octagon interview. \u201cI didn\u2019t tell anybody. I didn\u2019t even tell Dana White. My coaches knew, my family knew and my friends knew. I didn\u2019t want any distractions. But I have to thank you all for being there for me. I gave my commitment to another job. Something that I have wanted to do for a while. It is not MMA related or anything like that. It is just time for me to move on to something else. I\u2019m tired of getting punched by guys and rolling around on the ground with guys and stuff like that. Ain\u2019t nothing fun about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/a><\/p>\n

Johnson also said in a social media post following his retirement announcement, “I’ll miss MMA and every aspect of the game, but my time is over and I’m ready to watch the new generation take over. Now I can be Anthony Johnson\/AJ and not Anthony Rumble Johnson!”<\/p>\n

However, it looks like there are still some signs of the old “Rumble” in the gym.<\/p>\n

Current #4 UFC ranked light heavyweight Volkan Oezdemir who is slated to fight #2 ranked Jimi Manuwa at UFC 214 in July<\/a> posted a photo with Johnson in the gym on Friday.<\/p>\n

Oezdemir said in the caption of his post, “Each fight need a specific preparation ! Getting ready to shock the world with my man @anthony_rumble
\n#weknowwhattodo #ufc214 #trainsmart”<\/p>\n

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Each fight need a specific preparation ! Getting ready to shock the world with my man @anthony_rumble #weknowwhattodo #ufc214 #trainsmart<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Volkan Oezdemir (@volkan_oezdemir) on