Anthony Johnson: I’m very glad the UFC cut me the first time
Anthony Johnson: “I’m very glad that they cut me the first time, because if they hadn’t, I’d probably still be that knucklehead that was missing weight and didn’t care.”
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has had a storied struggle with weight limits. He twice missed weight at 170 in the UFC, once losing 20% of his purse plus an entire Knockout of the Night bonus because of it. Then he moved up to 185, and weighed in at 196 vs. Vitor Belfort, who choked him out in the first, and he was released.
Johnson’s next fight at 185, he weighed in at 194, vs. David Branch at Titan FC. Johnson won that. His next fight for Titan FC was at light heavyweight, and he made weight and won that too. Then he won two more. Then he beat Andrei Arlovski, at heavyweight. One more win, over Mike Kyle at World Series of Fighting 8, and Johnson was back in the UFC.
His first fight back was a win over Phil Davis in April, extending his streak to seven.
Now he fights Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Saturday night, on the main card of UFC on FOX 12. The fight with Little Nog will be at 205, which appears to be the right division for Johnson.
Johnson credits the release by the UFC for his turn around.
After being cut from the UFC, I really had to reevaluate everything and see what I needed to do to be better, said Johnson on Thursday, as transcribed by Tom Ngo for 5thRound. And I’m very glad that they cut me the first time, because if they hadn’t, I’d probably still be that knucklehead that was missing weight and didn’t care.
After each fight after I got cut, I could tell the steps I was making to change my life around were working. So I just kept going and gradually it was coming together.
Little Nog is on a two-fight win streak – a first round TKO of Tito Ortiz in 2011, and a unanimous decision over Rashad Evans early in 2013. The infrequency of fights has been due to a long series of injuries.
Johnson is a heavy favorite to win.
Heavy, heh.