After his second-round knockout victory over English fighter Jimi Manuwa on Saturday night at UFC 191, Anthony Johnson had a message for the media sitting along press row.
As he walked by, Johnson remarked how the media should ‘write about that.”
In the lead-up to UFC 191, Johnson was under scrutiny for an incident that happened at the gym in Florida while he was training, between him and a woman working out nearby on her yoga mat. Johnson, who has had a history of domestic abuse, went on social media to exacerbate the situation by ranting about the woman. The UFC conducted an investigation in the matter, which was resolved when it was agreed upon that Johnson would undergo counseling and donate money to a charity of the woman’s choice.
Asked about his comments to the media at the UFC 191 post-fight press conference, “Rumble” said he wasn’t bothered by the media’s coverage
“It wasn’t rough, I was fine,” he said. “You guys weren’t fine.”
When asked to elaborate on what he meant as he walked by media row, Johnson did.
“Like I said before, you guys are going to write whatever you’re going to write,” he said. “A lot of you guys write a lot of bullsh*t, but that’s what you do. That’s what you do to have to get paid and I’m fine with that. But if you’re going to write something bad, write something good.”
The 31-year old Johnson (20-5) was able to bounce back from his loss against Daniel Cormier back at 187 in May, finishing Manuwa with a big right hand in the second round. He credited his new grappling coach at the Blackzilians for helping him prepare for the fight, and that he thought he had a mental edge going in.
“I feel great,” he said. “Working with Neal Melanson has been amazing, and he’s just brought my game to another level. I can tell that Jimi was worried because Thursday when we had our staredown, we faced off and I saw his hands shaking a little bit. So I knew I was in his head. But you know, he could have been nervous then and still been ready to fight tonight, so I just had to go out there and do what I do.”