Fans are practically salivating for the upcoming showdown at Bellator 258 between Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero. And who can blame them?
Rumble vs. The Soldier of God is the biggest fight the promotion could possibly make right now, featuring a pair of free agent signings that have the chance to blow the light heavyweight division wide open.
That fan anticipation is something that has resonated with Johnson. “Yeah, I can feel it man. The energy is definitely out there,” he told Cageside Press at Thursday’s Bellator 258 pre-fight press conference. “The fans have been blowing up my Instagram, my Facebook, my Twitter. So the buzz is definitely out there.”
“I don’t know who is more excited, me or the fans. For me, it’s just overall competition. Just to have a great fight, against a great opponent, for a great organization, I mean I couldn’t be happier right now in life,” continued “Rumble,” who will be making his return to competition in the fight after a multi-year retirement that ended his UFC tenure. “It feels like a dream come true.”
One of the fun side effects of the grand prix format, and Johnson vs. Romero being the last quarterfinal, is that the other pieces are already in place. Ryan Bader will face Corey Anderson in one semi-final. Light heavyweight champ Vadim Nemkov awaits the winner of Johnson vs. Romero. “Rumble,” however, is refusing to look past that.
“I haven’t fought that far ahead. I’m focused on Yoel,” he stated. “If I look past him one time, I’m done. So I can’t look past him. I haven’t thought about Corey [Anderson], I haven’t thought about [Ryan] Bader, I haven’t thought about Nemkov. I’ve thought about Yoel. That’s the only human being that’s been on my mind the last— it feels like forever.”
“Mad props to those guys for making it to the semis and stuff like that, but they’re not my focus,” added Johnson. “My focus is Yoel. I’ve got to get past that monster before I can face the other monsters.”
Speaking of monsters, for a time, there was talk of “Rumble” taking a run at the heavyweight division. When he signed on with Bellator, those plans changed. On Thursday, he shed some insight into why.
“Hell, heavyweights, listen to the name you just said. You said heavyweights. Those are some big boys, they have a lot of power,” Johnson observed. “Heavyweights this day and time can actually move.”
“We don’t really have any Tank Abbott’s like we used to have at heavyweight.” Instead, noted Johnson, now it’s names like Francis Ngannou, Andrei Arlovski, and Cain Velasquez. “To me when I think of heavyweights, I look at those guys because they are so big and so athletic. Even thought I fought Andrei, I don’t want to go through those problems again, because he was a monster. So why not go down to light heavyweight where I have a better chance?”
“Now I’m in a bracket where I got the best of the best, fighting all at pretty much the one time. So I’ll take my chances at light heavyweight before I take my chances at heavyweight.” That’s not to say the heavyweight ship has sailed entirely for Anthony Johnson, however. “If Scott Coker [Bellator President] wants me to fight at heavyweight, then sign me up, I’ll do it.”
Watch the full Bellator 258 pre-fight press conference above. The event takes place Friday, May 7 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
