Anthony “Rumble” Johnson just can’t cut it. Sure, he’s a great fighter in the Octagon, but it’s his body of work before the fight where the real hard work comes into play. That’s where Johnson can’t cut it.
A move up to middleweight was seen as a new beginning for the Georgia native. Johnson has had a history of missing weight at 170 pounds and was supposed to make his middleweight debut at UFC 142.
Instead, Johnson failed to make weight. It’s not like Johnson missed it by one or two pounds. “Rumble” came in a whopping 12 pounds over the 185-pound weight limit.
Johnson missing weight has led his boss, Dana White, to call into question Johnson’s professionalism.
As a fighter, you are a professional. You are contracted to come in at a certain weight. This is not the first time this has happened with Johnson. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn’t happen to him at 170 pounds, and here we are in the same position again. [Belfort] came in like a professional on weight, and Anthony Johnson comes in as a total unprofessional, way overweight. (MMAFighting.com)
“Rumble” came into UFC 142 unprofessionally. He should leave as a non-professional.
The move to 185 pounds was supposed to solve Johnson’s weight cut issues and be a fresh start for him. Instead it’s only made it worse.
It’s clear that the cut to 170 pounds wasn’t the issue. The issue is with Johnson not having any self-discipline.
He may be a source of excitement once the cage door closes, but if he’s not willing to put in the work it takes to get to that point, he shouldn’t be fighting in the UFC.
The fight is the reward for all the hard work and dedication that’s shown in the weeks of training leading up to a fight.
For Johnson, it’s a simple case of no pain, no gain.
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