Anthony Johnson didn't just come back to the UFC to fight at heavyweight. He has higher aspirations and one matchup on his mind.
"I'm going to wait 'til I … lose about 10 more pounds, about 235 … I want to see how my body feels, and then if it feels good I'm going to probably try to make 205," he said on Below the Belt's Food Truck Diaries.
"Why?" Brendan Schaub asked.
"Because Jon's (Jones) going to heavyweight," Schaub said. "Why? Who is there to fight at 205?" Johnson replied.
"Oh, we'll make it happen if I get low enough, we'll fight at 205," Johnson said.
Johnson's trainer Ali Abdelaziz told ESPN in August that Johnson was planning a comeback for the heavyweight division in March 2020. That would give him time to go through USADA's six-month testing window to become eligible to fight again.
And Johnson was clear: he likes the matchups at heavyweight and would have some good fights there. But he also clearly has his eyes set on Jones who he has a tremendous amount of respect for.
"That's the fight that I wanted (in 2015)," Johnson said. "I think Jon wanted that fight too before everything happened, you know what I mean, that situation, which it's over with, it's in the past…Jon and I have so much respect for each other dude, like, when we see each other there's no animosity between each other, we like, show each other love, you know what I mean.
"But that was a fight, that's why I went up to 205, man. I was like, 'That's the guy I want,' and then when I get my heart broken and I got to fight D.C. (Daniel Cormier) it's not as motivating."
Jones and Johnson were supposed to fight at UFC 187, but Jones got into a car accident which started a whole slew of problems resulting in him having to vacate his title and get it back from Cormier.
Johnson then fought four more times from 2015 to 2017 in UFC before announcing his surprise retirement. But at the age of 35, he's looking forward to coming back and it sounds like a bout with Jones is the ultimate goal. And he doesn't sound like he has a problem waiting around for it.
"You know who taught everybody to be strategic in this game?" Johnson asked.
"Conor (McGregor)?" Schaub said.
"Yep. Strategic with it sort of thing," Johnson said. "So I'm like, 'I got to be smart about it, I got to do what I got to do, I got to promote myself and put in the work and time and stuff like that and build my resume up,' and then, when I get to the point where I got a big fight, or I got a title fight or something like that, it's a game changer."