Anthony Johnson’s post-UFC career? ‘We’re opening up a facility’... ‘for medical uses’
UFC

Anthony Johnson’s post-UFC career? ‘We’re opening up a facility’... ‘for medical uses’

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Former UFC light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson sounds like he’s jumping into the marijuana business now that his fighting career is through.

When Anthony Johnson suddenly announced his retirement from MMA, following a loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC 210, speculation ran wild as to where he would end up next. Most of that was due to Johnson himself, who teased that he had big plans coming, but that he couldn’t reveal just what they were, yet. Was he going to work with the L.A. Rams? Was he going to train fighters? Inquiring minds wanted to know.

And while he’s still being a bit more enigmatic than necessary, on a recent episode of Booker T’s ‘Heated Conversation’ podcast, Anthony Johnson gave people a better idea of just what he’s getting up to (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“We’re opening up a facility, if you know what I mean,” Johnson told the former WWE star. “It’s for medical uses. … We got some good things going on. It’s already big. We're just waiting for that law to pass and whenever it passes, we’re golden. We're playing our cards right, we're playing by the book, so that way there’s no issue."

For clarity’s sake, it sounds like he’s going into the marijuana retail business. And it’s perhaps a pretty logical next step for a pro fighter. The use of marijuana to recover from injury and to help negate the pains of fighting and training seems to be fairly pervasive within the sport. Assuming Johnson has established relationships with fighters in and around the MMA world, he may have a customer base ready to jump on board once he opens for business.

As for an MMA return, while Johnson initially teased that he might be willing to come back for the right big fights, that sounds less and less likely, telling Booker T, “When I say I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it. I’m finished, man... I’m not about that life anymore.”