When Anthony “Rumble” Johnson goes up against Charlie Brenneman later tonight at UFC on Versus 6 expect to see a high paced welterweight bought.
Johnson has had a little trouble getting a good winning streak going, although he does have a decent record inside the UFC at 6-3.
Johnson’s toughest competitor thus far has been Josh Koscheck, who Johnson lost to due to rear-naked choke.
Johnson goes up against a skilled wrestler in Brenneman, and his best bet is to keep the fight standing.
Brenneman is a relative new comer to the UFC and currently sits with a record of 3-1 inside the organization. His lone loss was a TKO to Johny Hendricks due to strikes.
Both fighters are skilled wrestlers and it’s unlikely that Johnson will be able to control Brenneman on the ground the way he controlled Dan Hardy when the two met earlier this year.
Johnson will be the stronger of the two athletes because of how much weight he typically cuts to get down to welterweight. If Johnson gets in trouble, taking Brenneman down to the ground shouldn’t be much trouble, but he’ll want to stand the fight back up as soon as he can.
While Brenneman only has a blue belt in BJJ, he can still be a potential threat off of his back and has won several of his matches with submissions.
What Johnson needs to do is avoid the takedown, and keep the fight standing. Brenneman’s only loss comes due to TKO.
Johnson is the superior striker in this match-up. If he can keep this fight on the feet he’ll be able to get the win.
If the fight does go to the ground Johnson needs to use his wrestling and his strength to control Brenneman until he can stand back up, and then go for the kill.
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