Anthony Johnson returns to UFC, meets Phil Davis at UFC 172 in Baltimore

The speculation began to swirl right after Anthony Johnson‘s most recent win for World Series of Fighting, and it ramped up when “Rumble” was seen at UFC 169 this past Saturday night. But the rumor mills didn’t have to turn for long.

Johnson (16-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) will return to the UFC after a six-fight winning streak outside the organization, and he’ll take on someone who’s been sitting back waiting and wondering when he’ll get his next fight: Phil Davis (12-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC).

UFC President Dana White announced Johnson’s signing and the fight for UFC 172 on Tuesday morning.

UFC 172 takes place April 26 at Baltimore Arena in Baltimore. The card will be the promotion’s first visit to the Maryland city. The pay-per-view main card is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and top contender Glover Teixeira. Prelims are expected to take place on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Johnson was released by the UFC a little more than two years ago after badly missing weight for a middleweight fight against Vitor Belfort. The fight went on at a 197-pound catchweight, but Belfort submitted Johnson with a first-round rear-naked choke. The missed weight was the third strike for Johnson, who twice missed the mark while fighting as a welterweight. But even moving up to 185 pounds, he couldn’t hit the target, missing by 11 pounds.

After he was let go, Johnson fought at 195 pounds and beat David Branch for Titan Fighting Championships. Then he moved to light heavyweight and stopped Esteves Jones for the promotion. After a knockout of Jake Rosholt, he signed with WSOF and knocked out D.J. Linderman in a light heavyweight bout. He moved to heavyweight for a fight against former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski and took a decision this past March.

A little more than two weeks ago, he knocked out Mike Kyle in the first round at WSOF 8 in Florida. The fight was the card’s main event, but despite the highlight-reel finish, Johnson wasn’t interviewed in the cage. With his contract up, it was widely speculated that the fighter and promotion wouldn’t be reaching a new deal. And now that speculation has been answered.

While in the UFC, Johnson has six of his seven wins by knockout, and his resume includes wins over Dan Hardy and Charlie Brenneman. But he’s been susceptible to submissions, tapping out in three of his four career losses to Belfort, Josh Koscheck and Rich Clementi.

Davis has been on the sidelines since an August decision win over Lyoto Machida in Rio de Janeiro in a fight that most major media outlets scored in Machida’s favor. But no matter, Davis ran his unbeaten streak to four fights since the lone loss of his career to Rashad Evans at UFC on FOX 2.

After that setback, the four-time Division-I All American wrestler had a no-contest against Wagner Prado after an accidental eye poke, but he stopped him with a second-round submission in Rio at UFC 153. He then picked up decision wins over Vinny Magalhaes and Machida at UFC 159 and UFC 163, respectively.

With the addition, the latest UFC 172 card now includes:

• Champ Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira – for light-heavyweight title
• Jake Ellenberger vs. Tarec Saffiedine
• Phil Davis vs. Anthony Johnson
• Tim Boetsch vs. Luke Rockhold
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Timothy Elliott
• Joe Ellenberger vs. Yancy Medeiros
• Andre Fili vs. Max Holloway
• Bethe Correia vs. Jessamyn Duke

For the latest on UFC 172, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Anthony Johnson)