Anthony Johnson Just Can’t Stop Challenging People, First Alexander Gustafsson, Now Alistair Overeem

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Anthony Johnson’s nickname is Rumble for a reason.

The man just likes to fight.

After initially calling out light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson, Rumble is at it again as he now wants a piece of Alistair Overeem (despite the pair being in different weight classes).

After the heavyweight was knocked out in the first round by Ben Rothwell last Friday at UFC Fight Night 50, many expected Overeem to either retire or be released by the UFC. Johnson, a long detractor of Overeem’s says he didn’t derive any pleasure from seeing the knockout.

“I mean, it is what it is,” Overeem’s former Blackzilian teammate Anthony Johnson said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “To me he looked fast, he looked strong at first, but I think he always starts that way, real crisp, and then he gets too comfortable and, you know, that’s when all this happens.

“He’s still one of the top heavyweights in the world, in my opinion,” Johnson added. “I don’t think they’re going to get rid of him. I mean, he’s still going to sell tickets. People want to see him either win or lose, you know what I’m saying? It’s not like when Anderson (Silva) was fighting or GSP was fighting, when Chuck (Liddell) was fighting. They wanted to see those guys dominate somebody. With him, they almost want to see him get beat up now, because of things he’s done or things he’s said, or whatever. (He) got caught up with some stuff that just changed people’s view of him.”

UFC President Dana White echoed Johnson’s opinion and said that Overeem would be guaranteed at least one more fight before his future with the company is finalized. Rumble took full advantage of this and said that he wouldn’t mind being the chosen one to send Overeem out of the UFC.

“I’ll fight him, I don’t care. I’ve already trained with him before,” Johnson said. “Why not? To me it’s just a fight. If the fans want to see it, I’m down to do it. I ain’t said no to any fight ever.

“I’d meet him at a catchweight,” Johnson said. “If he wanted to meet me at 225, let’s do it. Or whatever, 220, I’d do that. Or I’d meet at 230 at the dot, if he was down to go that far. Let’s do it. Even if I fought him, it’s a dangerous fight. He’s still got weapons that are crazy. He was hitting Ben with some crazy knees. He’s a dangerous fighter still, but I’d definitely test him.”