UFC's Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is looking to fight Ryan Bader, but also might fight Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson afterwards.
Dana White, president of the UFC, said last week that Gustafsson, a former No.1 Contender for the light heavyweight championship, would make the most sense as Johnson's next opponent, according to UFC.com. Johnson said he is interested in fighting Gustafsson, but he wants to have one more fight before their bout would take place.
"Hopefully I'll be able to fight in late October or something like that if there are any fights open," Rumble said. "I was hoping I could fight Ryan Bader in later 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."
Gustafsson started training again on Monday after having an operation on a torn meniscus in his right knee on Aug. 5th, MMA Fighting reported. While the Mauler was originally supposed to fight Jones at UFC 182, he said he could fight Jones on Jan. 3rd.
Johnson said a bout with Gustafsson would make for a good fight.
"Gus is taller than me, but I think we have the same amount of length of reach. So it'll be reaching," Johnson said. "Gus likes to move a lot and I like to stalk people and see what they have to offer. It will be a hell of a fight. I definitely want to give the fans what they want to see.
"Hopefully we can make the Jones-Cormier fight, one of those fights where that whole card is like a preview of what the light heavyweights have to offer."
