Anthony Johnson is a night owl these days.
The UFC’s No. 3-ranked light heavyweight arrived in Stockholm, Sweden, late last week to prepare for Saturday’s title eliminator against Alexander Gustafsson. At least some of that prep work involves keeping late hours.
To stay acclimated for an event scheduled to kick off at 2 a.m. local time, Johnson told Bleacher Report he’s keeping his body clock on Florida time. That means he’s staying up all night, starting his hotel training sessions at 2:30-3:00 a.m. and getting what little sleep he can—he says he doesn’t need more than a few hours each day—during normal business hours.
Oh yeah, and for a native of Georgia who now makes his professional home with the Boca Raton-based Blackzilian fight team—Stockholm in January? Not necessarily his choice for the best weather.
“It’s an experience,” Johnson said Tuesday. “The sun doesn’t stay up very long over here, but I’m doing the best I can with it.”
Stakes will be high when he meets Gustafsson in the cage this weekend. The winner likely gets a shot at Jon Jones’ 205-pound title later this year provided the champion can put his current drug-related scandal behind him.
This bout also marks Johnson’s return after last year’s UFC-imposed suspension.
The fight company originally put Johnson on the shelf indefinitely when Bloody Elbow’s Brent Brookhouse reported that the mother of the fighter’s children had filed for a restraining order against him in Sept. 2014. Brookhouse also reported that Johnson had pleaded “nolo contendere” in 2010 to a previous misdemeanor charge of domestic violence and was sentenced to three years of probation.
In Nov., the petition for the restraining order was dropped, and the UFC lifted his suspension. Johnson continues to assert he’s innocent of those most recent allegations.
Here, he talks to B/R MMA about serving his suspension, fighting Gustafsson in Sweden and the division’s embattled champion.
Bleacher Report: A lot has been made of what the atmosphere will be like on fight night. It’ll be a big stadium, and the UFC has drawn well in Sweden in the past. Do you believe that a guy can have a home-field advantage in MMA? Is that a real thing?
Anthony Johnson: I think a guy can have home-field advantage, but I think this is the type of fight where he won’t have home-field advantage. We both know what’s on the line. We both have our own goals and things like that, so we’re both going to go for it no matter what.
B/R: This is the fight you wanted; you lobbied for this fight against Gustafsson. What made you specifically want to fight this guy?
Johnson: Everybody else in the Top Five were either hurt, or they already had a fight, except for me and him. So I was like, why not? Glover Teixeira had just lost to Jon (Jones), Rashad Evans—my teammate—was hurt, Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones were fighting. I didn’t want to sit around and wait, and there was no point in me fighting anybody that was ranked lower than me because, to me, that’s downgrading myself. That’s not me saying that I’m better than anybody else, but I’m in this to be the best. So, to me, the next choice would be Gus, so I asked him to fight me and he said, “OK,” basically.
B/R: When you were on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani a little while ago, you said some of the things Gustafsson had said made this personal for you. Do you still feel that way? Is there any kind of a grudge happening here?
Johnson: No, no, no. When he said that I needed to win a few more fights, at that moment, he was talking like he had an “S” on his chest, but I think that was just kind of in the moment. So far, he’s been respectful, and I’ve always had respect for him. I have respect for anybody that does MMA. To me, he’s a good example of what a fighter and a gentleman should be like in this sport.
B/R: He’ll obviously be the most high-profile guy you’ve fought since coming back to the UFC. Can you put in perspective what beating him would mean for your career?
Johnson: I don’t know. To me, it will prove that I am one of the best. That’s all it will prove to me, that I do deserve to be in the Top Five. That’s what this fight is about to me—it’s about seeing what level I’m really at. It’s not about getting to a title. I haven’t thought about getting to a title. Everybody else talks about the title. To me, I just want to see if I’m really a Top Five fighter, if I deserve to be in the Top Five.
B/R: When you look at Alexander Gustafsson’s skills, what worries you the most about him?
Johnson: Nothing worries me. Of course he’s a great athlete and a great fighter, but he’s human. He will make mistakes. I’ll make mistakes in a fight; that’s just how the dice roll. I just think we’re two good fighters that are going to go out there and have a good time. Neither one of us are going to be worried because everything’s already done at this point. We just have to go out there and let it all out.
B/R: What are the areas where you think you’ll be better than him?
Johnson: I mean, everywhere. That’s just me. I’m confident in my abilities, you know? I think I’m going to be better everywhere, and I’m sure he feels the same way. That’s just what alpha male guys are like. When you train hard and you believe in yourself, you feel like you’re better than everybody else in every area. I think I’ll be better at stand-up, wrestling or on the ground. I feel like I’ve trained hard enough that I can say that.
B/R: Obviously, we talk about his length and his reach a lot. Tell me about what you did in training to try to prepare for that.
Johnson: Supposedly, he’s 6’5”. To me, he’s 6’4”. You know, people have to realize…well, I’ll save that for later.
B/R: You’re saying he’s only 6’5” in the media guide, maybe?
Johnson: Yeah, you know how it is. Like in the NFL, they give you that extra inch and all that other stuff. Some extra weight to make you look even better.
You know, man, as far as reach, I don’t think reach is going to be a problem. I think his reach is like an inch longer than mine. He doesn’t have Jon Jones arms, basically, is what I’m saying. But the tools that he has, he uses them very well. I don’t have any doubt that this man is going to come out there and really try to lay it on me. I’m pretty sure he has no doubt that I’m going to really try to lay it on him. Both of us believe in our skills, and we’re just going to go out there and do our best.
B/R: I saw on the UFC: Road to the Octagon special that he’s said he thinks his style will be your “kryptonite.” What do you think he means by that?
Johnson: I guess I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m definitely eager to see what kryptonite he has. But once again, he’s an athlete, he’s an alpha male, he believes in his skill set, he’s trained hard. He has the right to say that, you know what I mean? But when you say things like that, you obviously have to back it up. So, I’m eager to see what he has to offer me.
B/R: You just said a minute ago that you’re not worried about the title, but we do think the winner of this fight will be the No. 1 contender. We do think the winner of this fight will fight Jon Jones. Were you surprised to find out the stuff that’s going on with Jones right now, with the failed drug test for cocaine and the fallout from that?
Johnson: Whenever I found out, the first thing I said was, “Dummy.” But he’s human, and he’s young. I wish him all the best on whatever he’s doing to make himself better. My thing was, everybody was dogging him and stuff like that. I want everybody that was dogging him to look at their life and say at what point was their life absolutely perfect.
It just got to me, because everybody was on him hardcore. That just comes with the territory of being a champion, but like I said, don’t kick somebody when they’re down. To me, that’s what’s wrong with the world today. When somebody is down, the world will just keep stepping on you and kicking you while you’re down. Maybe there’s one person that wants to help you up, but you’ve got 10 other people kicking you while you’re down.
Everybody should be helping you up so you can make yourself a better person. But the world is just not that way. We’re not raised that way in this day and time.
B/R: Tell me a little bit about what happened back in September, when the UFC put you on indefinite suspension. You had just got back there (to the UFC) and had some momentum after winning a couple of fights and then that happened. Was that a scary situation for you, to have that uncertainty hanging over your career?
Johnson: Yeah, but I knew I didn’t do anything, so at the same time I was fine. But when you’ve got your life basically in somebody else’s hand,s it can obviously be depressing and upsetting. I feel like at this point in my life I’ve faced it all. I’ve overcome a lot, and I’m still here; I haven’t given up, and so I think I’m doing OK now.
B/R: What was your response in November when the charges were dropped and the suspension was lifted?
Johnson: I felt I was blessed. It was a big relief. I knew it would eventually happen; I just didn’t know when. I knew I didn’t do anything. I don’t wish that on anybody, but that’s over with now and nothing but great things have been happening since.
Chad Dundas is a lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand.
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