Anthony Johnson Doesn’t Want Daniel Cormier Stripped of UFC Light Heavyweight Title Over Appeal

Anthony Johnson is denying that his appeal of his UFC 210 loss to Daniel Cormier includes a demand to strip Cormier of the UFC light heavyweight title. Johnson wrote a post on Instagram (per MMAjunkie), now deleted, in which he denies that he asked the New York State Athletic Commission includes a directive to strip Cormier of the title and take 20% of his purse if he is unable to explain what happened at the weigh-ins for the show.

Johnson wrote, “First and foremost I never said I wanted D.C. stripped of the title. He beat me and that’s that…2nd I said everything would be handled After the fight because I was focused on the Fight. Weigh ins was messed up and at the end of the day it was wrong. If I lose fans because I’m fighting for what’s right then so be it. If it happen to me, it can happen to anybody. The world made all of this noise about it and when an appeal is made the world will cry about the appeal.

“That makes zero sense!

“Weigh ins was messed up and the fight wasn’t because he beat me. I’m not complaining about the loss, I’m complaining about the weigh ins. D.C. shouldn’t be stripped at all but for sure answer to the weigh in situation. If you hate me you hate that’s what you have to deal with. If you love me then I love you back…Btw this definitely isn’t about money, that’s for damn sure. It’s the principal of the situation for you knuckleheads that have no brain.”

The site notes that Johnson’s claim contradicts the appeal filed by Johnson’s lawyer Craig Zimmerman, which says Cormier should be punished for the incident if he doesn’t provide “an evidence and fact based explanation for his conduct,” and that “should Mr. Cormier be subject to discipline, while it is clear he could be suspended for his actions, at a minimum, Daniel Cormier should be ordered to pay 20 percent of his fight purse to Anthony Johnson and should be stripped of his UFC light heavyweight title for failing to make weight on April 8.”

Zimmerman told the site that while Johnson would accept that outcome, it isn’t his goal in filing the appeal. He said, “I think you need to take the post in its entirety. When you talk to Anthony, he is very upset about how the weigh-in went. He feels he was cheated; he felt that ‘DC’ cheated at the weigh-in. He doesn’t want to see anyone else have that happen. At the same point, what I think he was trying to say was, he doesn’t want it to seem as if he’s trying to fight the fight. He acknowledges he lost the fight. The issue is, he wants the NYSAC to acknowledge ‘DC’ came in overweight and go from there, as if that’s how he weighed in, as overweight. If, as part of their decision, they don’t strip him of the title, Anthony is not going to make a big issue of that. If they do, he’s fine with it. He wants the acknowledgement that the weigh-in went bad, that he was overweight, and that no one else has this happen to them.”