Kajan Johnson: Follow Up Interview After MFC Victory

The MMA News: “Take us through your fight with Ryan Healy Friday night at MFC 27?”
Kajan Johnson: “I felt really good going in. He was trying to stare me down right off the bat and during the stare down but I just did my thing and didn’t let it affect me. I just […]

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The MMA News: “Take us through your fight with Ryan Healy Friday night at MFC 27?”

Kajan Johnson: “I felt really good going in. He was trying to stare me down right off the bat and during the stare down but I just did my thing and didn’t let it affect me. I just went there and focused on keeping my head moving and using a lot of speed and quickness, I think he was really taken aback by the fact that he couldn’t really hit me and he was getting hit. He ended up getting close to me at one point so I just took him down and got into that crucifix right away and started elbowing his head. He felt really strong though and it was tough for me to keep position but I felt good I knew that I could hold onto it, there is a triangle that I set up from that position and I thought about it but it wasn’t worth it for me to end up on the bottom.

I spent a lot of time on his back in that fight, he would give his back to me but I didn’t feel comfortable just jumping with both my hooks in as I wanted to maintain top position, so I kept picking him up and taking him back down and beating up his legs with my knees a lot. He was harder to knee in the face than I expected, usually it’s easy for me to clinch people but with him being so tall and strong it was hard. Everything worked out pretty good though, originally my plan was to throw a lot of kicks but after talking to Kultar (Gill) about that he told me not to because he might be waiting for it with a counter, So I listened to Kultar and used a lot of my speed, boxing and wrestling if he tried to counter me and it worked out great for me.”

The MMA News: “Were you frustrated with not being able to finish the fight?”

Kajan Johnson: “Not at all, I try not to ever get frustrated I realize that everything is happening for a reason and if I’m not finishing him right now then I might be able to do it later. The only thing I’m thinking is next move, next move, next move, that’s the only thing going through my mind when I’m in the ring.”

The MMA News: “Are you satisfied with your performance, and what if any areas would you like to see improvement in?”

Kajan Johnson: “I’m very satisfied with my performance; I think that was the best fight I’ve ever had. That is because I had a really tough opponent, and he brought it the whole time. If I had a guy who would have laid down and broken mentally it wouldn’t have been nearly as good of a fight. If he wasn’t as technically skilled as he was I wouldn’t have been able to look as good as I did. In the third round I think I could have pushed a little bit more, I was really tired from throwing as much as I did. I really tried to finish him in the second round after throwing him on his head, I used a little bit of energy up trying to do that. So in the third I could have pushed the pace a little bit harder, so when I was at the ‘I’m so tired I’m going to die’ stage I got to continue to push the pace and continue to really put it on the guy.”

The MMA News: “In this fight we saw your much improved wrestling skills. With organizations like the UFC being dominated by wrestlers especially in the 155 pound weight class, how good do you feel your wrestling is compared to these guys that have been doing it since they were kids?”

Kajan Johnson: “I think it’s good, I still need to work on it though I know I do. I’m not delusional and don’t think that I’m going to out wrestle Gray Maynard, but I believe the other aspects of my game are good enough where I am going to be dangerous everywhere. So even if that wrestler does take me down he’s going to take a lot of abuse in getting me down and when he does I am going to able to sweep him, get back to my feet, or submit him on the ground. I continuously work on my wrestling that is my biggest focus right now, is to build my wrestling so I can compete with these guys who have wrestled at the Olympic and national collegiate levels.”

The MMA News: “Have you talked with Mark Pavelich and the MFC about what could be next?”

Kajan Johnson: “yeah, I am pretty sure he is going to put me on in February. It’s not official until they make the announcement, but they have a card in February coming up and I hope they will give me a title shot after that. I haven’t heard anything concrete, nor do I have anything in my contract which only has one fight left in it, but obviously they are going to want to keep me around after what I just did.”

The MMA News: “Are you looking to take some time off after the 13 week training camp, and if so how long until your back in the gym?”

Kajan Johnson: “I am going to train tomorrow. I don’t have too long before February, its 3 months away so that’s another 12 week training camp for me. I don’t want to take any more time off; I’ve had enough time off in the last 2 years. I had a 10 month layoff before this fight and after XMMA closed I had a 8 month layoff and that’s more than enough time off for the next couple years. I am just going to continue to grind it out all the way to 2012 then maybe we’ll look to take some time off.”

The MMA News: “So we’ve seen a lot of positive energy from you recently, you’ve talked about that recently. Tell us how that changed your outlook to fighting and how it’s changed your approach to fighting.”

Kajan Johnson: “That is just me learning how to be myself a lot of the time. Not trying to live up to different peoples stereotypes and opinions on what fighters should be. I always grew up watching Wanderlei and all these super aggressive fighters and they would always be looking so mean and fighters would be scowling in their pictures–I can pretend to be that but it doesn’t help me. They’re taking these pictures for weigh inns and telling to do one without smiling, and to me it’s like why do you always want me to not smile? They always want us to look mean and look scary, I don’t get why they want us to look scary, you look at pictures of basketball players and they’re smiling–we are just athletes you know, why can’t we be smiling? I just try to be myself, and I am a happy guy I’ve always had a big smile on my face and I just do me. I go out and I dance around, If you ever see me in the gym I’m not all huffing and puffing while pacing back and forth, I’m dancing around and having a good time. That’s what I do when I’m at work, so I just do me.”

The MMA News: “Anything you want to say to your fans?”

Kajan Johnson: “Just keep watching me; I am going to the top so just keep watching. Check out the website www.teamragin.com . I got to thank my sponsors: Clinch, Van City, Getdip.com, Full Tilt Poker, Milfadel, MMAFA, also Pat from Golds gym he really helped me out. Performaxhealthgroup.com, Jackson Strength and Condition, Tyler Jackson really got me in amazing shape—that guy is a wizard and when I make it to the top he will have people lining up for him.”