Report: Anthony Johnson Hasn’t Re-Entered USADA Testing Pool

Anthony Johnson recently announced his intentions to come out of retirement and return to the UFC as a heavyweight next year.

The fighter, who last competed at UFC 210, has stated during the Dominance MMA media day that he would like to return to action in April of next year:

Anthony Johnson says at a Dominance MMA media day that he’s targeting a UFC return in April.

— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) October 8, 2019

However, a problem could arise for Johnson and that is that the fighter has yet to re-enter the USADA testing pool according to Marc Raimondi of ESPN:

Rumble Johnson says he has not yet re-entered the USADA drug-testing pool. Not sure when he’ll do that. “I’m just training.” He said the heaviest he got was 276 pounds when he wasn’t training during retirement.

— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) October 8, 2019

Fighters are supposed to be randomly tested by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for six months before being cleared to return. What that means is that is Johnson were to re-enter the USADA testing pool today, an April return would be slim to none now. 

There has been no comment from USADA as to Johnson’s status or any particular date in which the fighter may be re-entering the testing pool.