Anthony Johnson being submitted by Daniel Cormier in the UFC 210 main event isn’t surprising. We saw that outcome when the pair met at UFC 187 in 2015. However, Johnson announcing his retirement in the prime of his career? No one saw that one coming.
That’s what happened, though, after Johnson tapped out to a rear-naked choke at 3:37 of the second round Saturday night—five of Johnson’s six career losses have been by rear-naked choke with the sixth being a TKO due to an eye injury.
“This is something I have to do for me. I love you all. This was my last fight,” an emotional Johnson said after the bout. “I didn’t even tell Dana White. I didn’t tell anybody. My coaches knew, my family knew, my friends knew. I didn’t want any distractions. I have to thank you all for being there for me.”
Johnson, 33, is regarded as one of the most feared knockout artists in mixed martial arts history. He didn’t give many details but said he is leaving the sport to explore other career options.
“I gave my commitment to another job, something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. It’s not MMA-related or anything like that,” Johnson explained. “It’s just time for me to move on to something else. I’m tired of getting punched by guys and rolling around on the ground with guys and stuff like that. Ain’t nothing fun about that, yo.”
The Dublin, Ga., native finishes his MMA career with a 22–6 record, including notable wins over Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.
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