{"id":377894,"date":"2021-03-03T10:46:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T18:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=377894"},"modified":"2021-03-03T10:46:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T18:46:38","slug":"photo-anthony-johnson-looking-seriously-slimmed-down-ahead-of-bellator-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bellator\/photo-anthony-johnson-looking-seriously-slimmed-down-ahead-of-bellator-debut\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo | Anthony Johnson looking seriously slimmed-down ahead of Bellator debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is looking seriously slimmed-down ahead of his upcoming debut with Bellator MMA.<\/p>\n

Johnson retired after a loss to Daniel Cormier in 2017, but has since teased a comeback on numerous occasions. That comeback finally became official earlier this year, when he signed with Bellator to much fanfare.<\/p>\n

Not long thereafter, Johnson was matched up with former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero in what is viewed as one of the most compelling matchups of the year so far on paper. The bout will serve as one of four opening-round bouts of Bellator’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Ahead of fight with Romero, Johnson looks to be in tremendous shape. In fact, he looks like a completely different person than he did in the midst of his retirement.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CL9tD21npAQ\/<\/p>\n

Ahead of his Bellator debut, Johnson has made it clear<\/a> that he expects some very tough challenges in the promotion’s cage\u2014starting with Romero.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just ready to go and fight,\u201d Johnson said on\u00a0The Spaniard Show<\/em>\u00a0with his former opponent Charlie Brenneman (via\u00a0MMA Fighting<\/a>). \u201cI look forward to the competition that\u2019s out there. I think we can compete with the UFC with what we have. A lot of people think that just because the Bellator promotion isn\u2019t what the UFC promotion is that the fighters aren\u2019t the same calibre, and there\u2019s always levels to everything. Every business, every promotion. But Bellator is no joke.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at my guy, my teammate Michael Chandler went over there and destroyed Dan Hooker,\u201d Johnson continued. \u201cSmoked him. But I knew that was coming. I\u2019m like, y\u2019all don\u2019t realize how dangerous Michael Chandler is. And even though he came from a smaller promotion, he\u2019s still an elite fighter. He wasn\u2019t there being the champ and fighting the best of the best for no reason. He went to war with Eddie Alvarez and to me, Eddie Alvarez is for sure the greatest fighter ever in my opinion because he\u2019s been to every organization and won the title. People don\u2019t give that man credit.”<\/p>\n

How do you think Anthony Johnson will perform in the Bellator cage?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is looking seriously slimmed-down ahead of his upcoming debut with Bellator MMA. Johnson retired after a loss to Daniel Cormier in 2017, but has since teased a comeback on numerous occasions. That comeback finally became official earlier this year, when he signed with Bellator to much fanfare. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":349753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10108,44],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhoto | Anthony Johnson looking seriously slimmed-down ahead of Bellator debut | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is looking seriously slimmed-down ahead of his upcoming debut with Bellator MMA.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/bellator\/photo-anthony-johnson-looking-seriously-slimmed-down-ahead-of-bellator-debut\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Photo | Anthony 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