MMAmania.com resident fighter analyst — and aspiring professional fighter — Andrew Richardson breaks down the mixed martial arts (MMA) game of UFC on FOX 18 headliner Anthony Johnson, who looks to knock out another opponent this Saturday (Jan. 30, 2016) inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Johnson, takes on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 winner, Ryan Bader, this Saturday (Jan. 30, 2016) at UFC on FOX 18 inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Outside of his title loss to Daniel Cormier, Johnson has looked unstoppable inside the Octagon. He’s unquestionably one of the most powerful men in the sport, and he’s one of the few remaining match ups for Jon Jones who are genuinely interesting.
However, Johnson still needs to distance himself a bit from that ugly loss to “DC.” He already moved back into the win column with another finish, but starching Ryan Bader and halting his excellent win streak would be the best way to move forward.
Let’s take a look at the knockout artist’s skill set:
Striking
Johnson has had the ability to separate opponents from their senses since the start of his career, but he’s really grown under the tutelage of Henri Hooft. While he still is too wild for his own good at times, Johnson has really figured out his game and grown more comfortable with his combinations and defense.
When Johnson is calm and maintains his stance — which is most of the time — he’s a very difficult man to take down. Most of the time, it’s like running into a brick wall — his opponent’s attempts to grapple simply bounce off. That’s very important, as Johnson’s improved takedown defense does allow him to let loose with his strikes more often.
Overall, Johnson really doesn’t use a ton of variety — he’s most just looking to land the right hand or some left kicks — so it’s imperative that he feints well. Otherwise, his punches could be come predictable, and that’s the last thing a power puncher wants. To that end, Johnson likes to extend his hands forward a bit rather than keep them right on his chin, which allows him to make small feints towards his opponent, judge distance and parry strikes.
This also forces his opponents to try and shoot for takedowns through his hands, which obviously complicates things for them.
While Johnson is very right hand-heavy overall, his left works well when he throws it. For the most part, he’ll mix up a sharp jab into his feints, but he’ll also turn into a hard left hook on occasion.
Johnson is constantly looking to line up his right cross (GIF). He’ll mix it up by throw it as a lead as well, simply stepping towards his opponent with the potential knockout blow. Whenever Johnson looks to counter or build up a combination, his straight right should be expected.
Recently, Johnson has been effective with the uppercut more often. Against Phil Davis, Johnson was easily able to recognize when the collegiate standout was looking to shoot, because Davis presented no other real threat. Before long, Johnson was shoveling uppercuts up the middle, directly into Davis’ ducking jaw.
In a more violent but equally simple example, Johnson mauled Antonio Rogerio Nogueira with a series of uppercuts for his fourth — that’s the most in UFC history — knockout in less than one minute. After walking his opponent into the fence, Johnson kept his left hand on Nogueira’s raised guard, controlling his movement a bit and keeping him from circling off or throwing counter punches. From there, his uppercut continually found its way through Nogueira’s defense (GIF).
To finish Gustafsson after stunning him, Johnson relied on a similar tactic. While Gustafsson used his head movement to attempt to avoid his opponent’s strikes, Johnson kept his left hand on Gustafsson, pushing him around and getting him off-balance. As long as Johnson could touch Gustafsson, he knew he was at range to land the kill shot, and “Rumble” was constantly looking to land his right hand (GIF).
Outside of his boxing, Johnson makes use of a few key kicking techniques. Namely, Johnson loves to step forward and fire off his switch high kick (GIF). This kick has landed on numerous opponents desperately trying to get there head out of line of Johnson’s punches, making it a great tool for the Blackzilians-trained fighter.
In addition, Johnson has a strong low kick that he should look for more often. Since few are willing to stand and trade with Johnson, he very often has the option to kick out his opponent’s trailing leg as they flee from the boxing range. He did this several times opposite Phil Davis, but Johnson could definitely take greater advantage of his strong low kicks.
At this point in his career, Johnson has proven to be a pretty difficult man to hit cleanly. He’s commonly slipping, rolling under punches, or merely interrupting them with his reaching hands, and he’ll always come back with heavy punches of his own. Even if it’s not a technically pretty counter punch from the ideal distance, Johnson just needs a solid connection to end the fight.
Wrestling
Johnson’s background is actually in wrestling, as he was a very successful wrestler in (junior) college. In the world of MMA, Johnson rarely looks for his own shot, but his takedown defense is being tested very often.
When Johnson is initiating a takedown, he usually looks for a single leg. Once he locks in the grip, Johnson will turn the corner and dump his opponent. If the shot isn’t up against the fence, Johnson’s inside hand will sometimes slide up to an inside collar tie to rotate the upper body.
Additionally, Johnson will occasionally shoot for a reactionary double leg if his opponent chases him with punches. That’s rarely necessary for obvious reasons, but Johnson did put Vitor Belfort on his back a couple of times during a trademark “Phenom” blitz and shot in on Phil Davis a couple of times when “Mr. Wonderful” got extra aggressive. The reactive takedown is actually a very strong technique for strikers — which is most certainly what “Rumble” is at this point in his career — as it can make an opponent rethink his forward pressure, even if he is the superior grappler.
The more important part for Johnson is his takedown defense. To that end, Johnson’s athleticism, distance control, more balanced striking, and improved conditioning have made him a very difficult man to take down at Light Heavyweight.
Johnson understands distance well. If he’s at long range, then he’s got plenty of time to react and sprawl to his opponent’s shot. When he’s stalking his opponent, “Rumble” generally does a good job to ensure that he’s rarely fighting from inside the clinch. At that range, Johnson is using his left hand to frame his opponent and prevent shots/clinch attempts. Instead, Johnson is striking from a range in which he can land his straight right, kick effectively, and anticipate his opponent’s movements.
The exception to Johnson’s largely untouchable takedown defense is his loss to Cormier. The big mistake that Johnson made in that fight was getting excited and over-extending himself, as Cormier was able to duck under Johnson’s wide punches and force him to wrestle. Even after giving Cormier great position, Johnson was still able to defend the takedown rather well, but it cost him a great deal of energy.
Before long, Cormier had taken over and imposed his will.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Since Johnson has yet to score — or to my knowledge, even attempt — a submission inside the cage, there’s obviously not a ton of offense to analyze. Considering Johnson’s ability to suddenly and violently end his opponent’s night with a few ground strikes, it’s not hard to see why he hasn’t prioritized his offensive grappling.
Defensively, four of Johnson’s five losses are via submission. Since they’re all rear naked chokes, it’s pretty clear what the issue is. On the whole, Johnson is not being submitted JUST because of a lack of jiu-jitsu knowledge, as he did manage to defend himself from a few of Cormier’s arm locks.
Instead, it’s become clear that he leaves his neck open when he’s tired and being overwhelmed on the mat.
Conclusion
This is a very important bout for Johnson, as it’s key to getting back into the title picture. Losing to Cormier is one thing — the man is the official champion after all — but Bader has yet to earn such recognition. With a win, Johnson is in position to either rematch “DC” or challenge Jones, the two highest profile bouts in the division. Otherwise, he may miss his opportunity to make either of those fights happen.
*****
Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt, is an undefeated amateur fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.