UFC on FOX 18 free fight video: Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (2009)

Before Anthony Johnson fights Ryan Bader on next Saturday’s UFC on FOX 18 show in New Jersey, watch this knockout win he scored against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104 back in 2009.

On October 24th, 2009, at UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun I,  Anthony Johnson missed the welterweight limit by 5 lbs against the already undersized Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Johnson came into this contest on the heels of consecutive knockout wins over Luigi Fioravanti and Kevin Burns, while Yoshida had just submitted Brandon Wolff, but was otherwise two fights removed from Josh Koscheck almost ending his life.

To the surprise of no one, Johnson slaughtered Yoshida in under a minute. After hurting him with a series of punches in the opening half-minute, Johnson delivered the killshot with one last right hand. You can watch the whole thing, all 41 seconds of it, at the top of the page. I must admit, this is a strange “free fight video” to pick out of Rumble’s extensive catalogue of knockout victories.

Here’s how Kid Nate described the very short fight for Bloody Elbow:

MMA legend Yuki Nakai and Greg Jackson in Yoshida’s corner. Cung Le and Josh “The Punk” Thomson in Anthony Johnson’s corner. Johnson has eight angry inches of reach advantage.  Refereee Steve Mazzagatti rocking black latex gloves. Round 1 Yoshida staying well back of Johnson’s range. Johnson scoring with hooks. WOW. Johnson Knocks out Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

And here’s how Bloody Elbow’s comments section reacted:

To put things in perspective, Johnson defeated Andrei Arlovski in 2013 as a heavyweight, while Yoshida is currently competing at lightweight. Yup. Johnson only had three more bouts at welterweight before he took his scale-breaking talents to middleweight, which led to his temporary exile from the UFC before returning as a fully-fledged 205 lbs contender. Yoshida was released after losing to Mike Guymon in 2010, and now fights in Japan. He also beat Phil Baroni in a ONE FC bout back in 2011, so he’s one of THE BEST EVAH!

Anthony Johnson vs. Ryan Bader headlines UFC on FOX 18 next Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jesey.