When October 1st rolls around, we will all find out where Anthony “Rumble” Johnson stands in the UFC welterweight division when he takes on Charlie Brenneman.
Johnson has a 9-3 pro record, and in the UFC he is 6-3.
He has not been in action much as of late, as he was dealing with several injuries, keeping him out of competition from November 2009 to March 2011.
His first fight back from injury was against Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy and he used his wrestling to take down and control Hardy en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Many were not pleased with Johnson’s victory, as he claimed it would be a standup war, but it clearly wasn’t and Hardy said he felt as though he felt “punked.”
Johnson will get the chance to showcase his standup when he takes on Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 6.
Brenneman is 14-2 in his career with five TKOs—but none since joining the UFC. It would be pretty safe to assume that Johnson would feel confident in his standup against Brenneman.
Does a win over Brenneman make Johnson a contender? No. But it may put him back in the picture; he previously held a three-fight win streak before getting matched up with Josh Koscheck.
Koscheck went on to submit Johnson in the second round, and the two won “fight of the night” honors for their efforts.
After that Koscheck fought for, and won, a fight for the No. 1 contender spot in the welterweight division.
Johnson was a contender before the loss to Koscheck, but can he work his way back up there?
With the talent and depth in the welterweight division, I wouldn’t see it happening anytime soon.As far as I can see, unless Johnson can evolve his game, he will be a gatekeeper and never able to get that big win to push him up to contender status.
Johnson has good wrestling, but it’s not enough to hang with the Josh Koschecks and Jon Fitchs of the world; Johnson has good striking, but it’s not enough to hang with the Thiago Alves and the Carlos Condits.
Simply put, there is just no room for Johnson at the top of the division.
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