Anthony Johnson targets Bader then Gustafsson, but won't 'ever' fight Evans

Anthony Johnson‘s in a peculiar situation: He doesn’t want to call out opponents and appear brash, but as a contender in one of the UFC’s more intriguing weight classes, he factors into nearly every matchmaking discussion.

Johnson, a former struggling welterweight who’s rebuilt his career as a light heavyweight, continued his turnaround this past month with a 44-second knockout of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC on FOX 12.

Following the win, “Rumble” (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) told MMAjunkie Radio he’d be open to a fight with Alexander Gustafsson (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who was supposed to rematch light heavyweight champion Jon Jones before injuries reshuffled the deck and opened the door for Daniel Cormier to fight the titleholder at UFC 182 on Jan. 3.

Now, though, Johnson appears open to another possible opponent: Ryan Bader (16-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who defeated Ovince Saint Preux this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 47.

With Gustafsson just recently returning to training following a knee injury, Johnson would like to fight Bader in the meantime.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to fight in late October or something like that if there are any fights open,” Johnson recently told UFC.com. “I was hoping I could fight Ryan Bader in late 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.”

It’s not a bad game plan, especially since Gustafsson believes he shouldn’t have to fight again before getting his promised title shot. Bader, meanwhile, had won three straight and four of his past five, and he’s making a steady climb up the 205-pound rankings.

However, one option that Johnson said is off the table is a meeting with training partner, friend and former champ Rashad Evans (19-3-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC).

“That just won’t happen,” Johnson told UFC.com. “That’s just how it’s going to be with me. I’ll tell them I’ll go up to heavyweight and fight. By that time Rashad should have a fight, and whatever the outcome is going to be, is going to be. Then I can have my fights at heavyweight or light heavyweight.

“But I won’t fight him, ever. We fight each other every day in the gym, so I think it’s just pointless to go down that road and fight a brother.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.