UFC
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson wants to fight Ryan Bader this fall, Alexander Gustafsson in January
Aug 19, 2014 - 11:35:09 AM Anthony "Rumble" Johnson wants to fight Ryan Bader this fall, Alexander Gustafsson in January

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is looking to make another step towards a title fight this fall, and while a bout with Alexander Gustafsson's been mentioned as a possibility by UFC President Dana White, Johnson would like to fight before Gustafsson's likely ready to return.

"Hopefully I'll be able to fight in late October or something like that if there are any fights open," Johnson said in an interview with UFC.com. "I was hoping I could fight Ryan Bader in late October and fight Gus on the Jon Jones card. That's my idea."

"People finally want me to start calling people out, you know what I mean? I never did that before. But I've always wanted to fight Ryan Bader because I've always thought he was a tough fighter. Nobody has really seen my wrestling, so a fight with [Bader] would be a good way for me to display my wrestling. In my opinion, he is a better wrestler than Phil Davis."

Regardless of when he fights and against whom, Johnson's moved himself very close to a title fight, and another win could put him in line for a 2015 shot.

Penick's Analysis: If the Gustafsson fight doesn't come together, I can see Rumble-Bader happening, but it's not going to happen by October. Bader didn't leave the UFC Fight Night 47 event unscathed, and with another child on the way next month, he's probably out until December at the earliest. So if Johnson wants to fight in October or November, it will have to come against someone lower in the ranks, and I'm not sure if the UFC will be all that interested in putting him in that position.