(Anthony Johnson, back in his “How in the actual f*ck does that guy make 170??” days.)
After going 3-0 as light-heavyweight last year — with no weigh-in mishaps whatsoever — ever-expanding slugger Anthony Johnson is making his next jump up the scale. As first reported by MMA Junkie, the former UFC welterweight contender is slated to face former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski at heavyweight in the main event of World Series of Fighting 2, which goes down Saturday, March 23rd, at Revel Resorts & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Both men scored easy first-round knockouts at WSOF’s debut event in November, so hell, why not make ’em fight each other? Though “Rumble” won’t have a size-advantage to rely on this time, his powerful fists could spell doom for Arlovski’s fuzzy chin.
But that’s not even the biggest WSOF-related news we have to share. According to a press release distributed today, WSOF 2 will mark the first live event in a new three-year broadcast partnership with NBC Sports Network, which previously aired the promotion’s first card. Here’s the important stuff:
The agreement calls for a minimum of six live events annually on the national television platform that reaches over 80 million homes. Additionally, later this year, NBCSports.com will live stream World Series of Fighting events via TV Everywhere.
(Anthony Johnson, back in his “How in the actual f*ck does that guy make 170??” days.)
After going 3-0 as light-heavyweight last year — with no weigh-in mishaps whatsoever — ever-expanding slugger Anthony Johnson is making his next jump up the scale. As first reported by MMA Junkie, the former UFC welterweight contender is slated to face former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski at heavyweight in the main event of World Series of Fighting 2, which goes down Saturday, March 23rd, at Revel Resorts & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Both men scored easy first-round knockouts at WSOF’s debut event in November, so hell, why not make ‘em fight each other? Though “Rumble” won’t have a size-advantage to rely on this time, his powerful fists could spell doom for Arlovski’s fuzzy chin.
But that’s not even the biggest WSOF-related news we have to share. According to a press release distributed today, WSOF 2 will mark the first live event in a new three-year broadcast partnership with NBC Sports Network, which previously aired the promotion’s first card. Here’s the important stuff:
The agreement calls for a minimum of six live events annually on the national television platform that reaches over 80 million homes. Additionally, later this year, NBCSports.com will live stream World Series of Fighting events via TV Everywhere.
“We are thrilled to call NBC Sports Network the home of World Series of Fighting,” said World Series of Fighting President and six-time world kickboxing champion, Ray Sefo. “This partnership will allow us to build the World Series of Fighting brand of world-class MMA competition before a dedicated national audience of passionate sports fans and place our athletes on the big stage that they deserve.”
Six events a year on cable TV? Just like that, World Series of Fighting has already become the #3 MMA promotion in the U.S. Their primary challenge now is to build up their roster so that not every main event is a moneyweight freak-show. (Not that we’re complaining.) To that end, WSOF has been busy behind the scenes in recent months, signing guys like Paulo Filho and Dany Lauzon. Can they make a dent in an already crowded market?
“My management paid HOW MANY Pitbull bucks for this song?! Paulo Filho won’t be impressed.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released fighter salaries for the inaugural World Series of Fighting event, held last Saturday night in Las Vegas. Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski made the most money that evening, bringing home $60,000 for crushing Devin Cole in the main event. While we’re all glad to see Arlovski get paid, hopefully he spends some money on better entrance music; having some rapper bark your name is something that an amateur on the undercard of a local show would do to get people to notice him (assuming none of his friends knew how to shave stars into his hair, of course), not something a former UFC champion should do to keep people interested in his career. Just saying, it was pretty cheesy.
Taking home the second-largest purse of the evening was Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, who earned $55,000 for his highlight reel knockout against D.J. Linderman. Since moving up to a weight class that he should reasonably be fighting at, Anthony Johnson has looked pretty impressive. It’s a shame that he sacrificed so much of his career – not to even mention his health – cutting to welterweight, but at twenty-eight years old it’s by no means over for the UFC veteran.
Keep in mind that none of these salaries include any undisclosed bonuses or end of the night bonuses that World Series of Fighting may have given out. Also, even though this promotion is riding a lot of hype and had recognizable talent throughout the card, keep in mind that WSoF is a brand new promotion that just put on its first event. Basically, no one made Anderson Silva money, is what I’m trying to say:
“My management paid HOW MANY Pitbull bucks for this song?! Paulo Filho won’t be impressed.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has released fighter salaries for the inaugural World Series of Fighting event, held last Saturday night in Las Vegas. Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski made the most money that evening, bringing home $60,000 for crushing Devin Cole in the main event. While we’re all glad to see Arlovski get paid, hopefully he spends some money on better entrance music; having some rapper bark your name is something that an amateur on the undercard of a local show would do to get people to notice him (assuming none of his friends knew how to shave stars into his hair, of course), not something a former UFC champion should do to keep people interested in his career. Just saying, it was pretty cheesy.
Taking home the second-largest purse of the evening was Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, who earned $55,000 for his highlight reel knockout against D.J. Linderman. Since moving up to a weight class that he should reasonably be fighting at, Anthony Johnson has looked pretty impressive. It’s a shame that he sacrificed so much of his career – not to even mention his health – cutting to welterweight, but at twenty-eight years old it’s by no means over for the UFC veteran.
Keep in mind that none of these salaries include any undisclosed bonuses or end of the night bonuses that World Series of Fighting may have given out. Also, even though this promotion is riding a lot of hype and had recognizable talent throughout the card, keep in mind that WSoF is a brand new promotion that just put on its first event. Basically, no one made Anderson Silva money, is what I’m trying to say:
World Series of Fighting 1
Nov 3, 2012
Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Overpaid: In the spirit of the upcoming US presidential election, we’ll start off with the safest answer possible: It’s hard to call anyone anyone on this card overpaid. Now, in the spirit of CagePotato: Twenty-five grand (more than Miguel Torres made, mind you) for a 7-2 fighter who holds no notable victories, has never fought in a major North American promotion and, by the way, fought on the undercard? Damn it must feel good to be a Gracie.
Underpaid: If you ever wondered why guys like Ed Soares get paid as much as they do, it’s because good management is at a premium in this sport. Case in point, Devin Cole fought a former UFC champion in the main event of a nationally televised show on a weekend when there was absolutely no competition. I’m no agent, but if I could only negotiate a fighter in Cole’s position the same amount of show money that Ramico Blackmon’s management earned for him, let’s just say I wouldn’t be drinking coffee for a while.
Likewise, I already had respect for Travis Bartlett for stepping up to fight Tyrone Spong when no one else – including Houston Alexander – was willing to. Then again, perhaps the measly four grand Bartlett made for that beating he took explains why no one wanted the fight. Major props to Travis for being tough enough to fight such a dangerous kickboxer for such a small paycheck, but buddy, your brain damage is worth more than that.
The World Series of Fighting held their first event at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Although the main card appeared to be stuffed with squash matches, it was a pretty good night of fights and I was there to get a good gauge on the atmosphere and if WSoF could become a player in the MMA world that Dana White rules with an iron fist.
First things first, it wasn’t the sellout they promised as word is that they only sold 1500 tickets and comped double that to ensure a nice fight atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a good evening of fights that the crowd was receptive to. Oh yeah, ring girls. Lots of ring girls. They were like a platoon that switched in and out. I didn’t know ring girls needed breaks but whatever. It’s enough variety to keep fans engaged between rounds. I mean, Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste are great but six beats two every single gotdamn time. Right? But I digress…
Media sat on a stage that put us eye level with the cage and we could damn near touch it (or slap a cameraman) if we tried hard enough. We could actually feel some of the punches landed. Pretty good stuff. Oh yeah, and there were fights.
The World Series of Fighting held their first event at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, NV. Although the main card appeared to be stuffed with squash matches, it was a pretty good night of fights and I was there to get a good gauge on the atmosphere and if WSoF could become a player in the MMA world that Dana White rules with an iron fist.
First things first, it wasn’t the sellout they promised as word is that they only sold 1500 tickets and comped double that to ensure a nice fight atmosphere. Nevertheless, it was a good evening of fights that the crowd was receptive to. Oh yeah, ring girls. Lots of ring girls. They were like a platoon that switched in and out. I didn’t know ring girls needed breaks but whatever. It’s enough variety to keep fans engaged between rounds. I mean, Brittany Palmer and Arianny Celeste are great but six beats two every single gotdamn time. Right? But I digress…
Media sat on a stage that put us eye level with the cage and we could damn near touch it (or slap a cameraman) if we tried hard enough. We could actually feel some of the punches landed. Pretty good stuff. Oh yeah, and there were fights.
Andrei Arlovski def. Devin Cole via 1st round TKO (2:37)
In the main event, Arlovski walked out to some rap song where the chorus barked “Andrei Arlovski.” Cool or corny, I’m not sure. I’ll probably roll with corny. At any rate, all I was thinking about was “if he gets knocked out this great rap song will all be a waste.” Devin Cole’s biggest victory was against Mike Kyle back in 2006 so the chances he would beat Arlovski were slim to none.
Trying to rival Bruce Buffer, the announcer’s catch phrase heading into the main event was “Can you feel it!?!?” Nope, sure can’t. Not with that.
Anyways, Arlovski did exactly what was expected as he smashed an overhand right into Cole’s temple and sent him to the canvas. Arlovski followed him there and hammerfists met Cole’s face.
The end.
Anthony Johnson def. DJ Linderman via 1st round KO (3:58)
Yeah, we all knew that Anthony Johnson could separate your body from your spirit in one punch, but this was ri-goddamn-diculous. Johnson continued his crusade to destroy foes in the 205 division as he wrecked DJ Linderman with a right hook that sent him face first into the canvas. Here’s how it went…
Johnson and Linderman danced around a bit. Johnson kicked Linderman in the nuts real, real hard. Linderman got himself together and Johnson went after him. A poke in the eye had Johnson in trouble. Herb Dean didn’t see the eye poke and urged the blinking Johnsno to continue. Instead of Linderman being cordial, he decided to rush him. Hey, all is fair in war, right? Unfortunately, that just pissed Johnson off and he uncorked a right hook that landed with the impact of Thor’s Hammer and sent Linderman face planting to the canvas. Even referee Herb Dean looked down like “Damn!” before checking to see if Linderman was dead. Fortunately, he wasn’t.
Marlon Moraes def. Miguel Torres via split decision (30-27 & 29-28 for Moraes, 29-28 Torres)
Once upon a time, Miguel Torres was considered to be unbeatable. A punch by Brian Bowles in 2009 shattered his unbreakable image and it hasn’t been the same for him ever since (3-5 in his last 8 fights after going 37-1). A stint in the UFC was chopped down by Michael McDonald and a rape van tweet that he couldn’t shake. His debut in WSoF was thought to be a rebirth but it was a rather rude awakening that perhaps the game has passed him by. Torres looked out of sync and lost against Brazilian Marlon Moraes as his stalking style was disintegrated in the first minute of the fight when Moraes clocked him with a combination and blood trickled from his scalp. From there — with a bizarre mixture of boos and Ric Flair “woos” echoing through the crowd — Torres was out struck by Moraes as he proved to be the faster and stronger fighter. It wasn’t the most exciting fight but Moraes was so comfortable that he attempted a jumping roundhouse in the third round. You wouldn’t have done that to Torres five years ago. But today, it’s a different story. A late takedown during a relatively competitive third sealed his fate. Well, almost. Somehow, one judge inexplicably scored the fight 29-28 for Torres but the other two judges managed to get it right with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 for Moraes.
Tyrone Spong def. Travis Bartlett via 1st round TKO (3:15)
101-5-1 is Tyrone Spong’s kickboxing record before deciding to head to the world of MMA. Obviously, his debut was hyped. Poor Travis Bartlett stood in the way of Spong becoming 1-0. That didn’t last long. The kickboxing beast handed out a savage beating to Bartlett that will likely have light heavyweights crapping their pants. After nearly kicking Bartlett’s head into the audience on several occasions, Spong settled for a straight right hand that dropped his foe to the canvas in a “no mas” manner eerily reminiscent of how Forrest Griffin collapsed to the canvas against Anderson Silva. It was ugly, it was brutal, it was beautiful.
—
Elsewhere on the card…
Tyson “The Man Of” Steele stopped Gregor Gracie in the first round with a hulk smash TKO. Time of stoppage was 2:11
Brian Cobb ended Rony Torres two-year, 11-fight win streak with a split decision victory.
Steve Carl pulled a nifty transition from crucifix to rear naked choke to elicit the tapout at the 2:11 mark.
Josh Burkman was impressive as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Gerald Harris.
JZ Cavalcante bent TJ O Brien’s leg like a pretzel as he scored a first round submission in 63 seconds.
David Branch’s workman like performance earned him a unanimous decision victory over Dustin Jacoby.
Spotted In The Crowd: Jake Shields, Urijah Faber, Rashad Evans, Travis Browne, Pat Militich, Vitor Belfort, Martin Kampmann, Ian McCall, Jay Heiron, TJ Lavin, Josh Barnett, Rampage Jackson, Chael Sonnen, Joseph Benevidez & Frank Trigg
If everything goes right this weekend, light heavyweight fighter Anthony Johnson might just net himself a return trip to the UFC.So far, he’s been (mostly) doing all the right things.Whenever you’re handed a pink slip by Zuffa, getting back to the big …
If everything goes right this weekend, light heavyweight fighter Anthony Johnson might just net himself a return trip to the UFC.
So far, he’s been (mostly) doing all the right things.
Whenever you’re handed a pink slip by Zuffa, getting back to the big leagues is simply a matter of following some simple guidelines.
Maintain a winning streak on the regional circuit against decent opponents. Make weight for your fights. Beat other ex-UFC fighters. Keep your name in the press. Don’t publicly threaten to pee in Dana White‘s mouth, a.k.a. the “Josh Barnett Rule.”
Generally, those five simple things are always a winning recipe for a call-back to the UFC’s bright lights and bigger paychecks (unless you’re Tim Sylvia, unfortunately).
For the most part, Johnson’s managed to stick to the script like a true professional.
Aside from a slight hiccup that resulted in a catchweight bout at Titan Fighting Championships 22, Johnson has made weight for his fights, beaten two UFC veterans, and kept his name circulating on sports websites such as our own.
Most importantly, Johnson has finally admitted he’s no longer a welterweight, moving up to light heavyweight for his last two fights.
Historically, weight cutting has been his Achilles’ Heel. It turned the athletic and powerful striker into a shell of himself, frustratingly sapping his natural talent for a ridiculous size advantage that he clearly couldn’t maintain by healthy means.
Not only has Johnson come in heavy four times in his UFC career, but his unapologetic attitude after the UFC 142 weigh-ins was irking, to say the least.
One first-round submission loss to VitorBelfort later, and Dana White clearly had no problem announcing that Johnson was getting sent to the minors.
Fortunately for him, the UFC president has often stated that he likes “Rumble” and just wants him to take the fight game a little more seriously.
So, whether by maturity (hopefully) or physical necessity (more likely), Johnson’s success at 205 pounds should be enough to convince Dana White and Joe Silva that he’s ready to ply his strengths in the Octagon against the likes of Vinny Magalhaes or Matt Hamill.
Heck, Johnson might even be a good match-up for Glover Teixeira.
Moreover, several other light heavyweight fighters on the regional circuit should certainly be hoping that he gets re-signed by Zuffa sooner rather than later, and doesn’t have to spend 2013 looking for victims to add to his headcount.
Judging by Johnson’s success at 205 pounds, it apparent that he’s the type of athlete who is both decent in the UFC, yet also two country miles beyond almost any journeyman fighter in his weight division. He’s simply too strong, too fast and too seasoned.
That’s likely thanks to his training time at the Blackzilians‘ Jaco Hybrid Training Center super-camp—the current home of Rashad Evans, Alistair Overeem, Jake Shields, Antonio Silva, and Melvin Guillard. Impressively, it seems to be further honing Johnson’s already-potent skills.
Before Johnson steps into the cage against Bellator veteran and occasional heavyweight champion D.J. Linderman, all he has to do is make weight.
Hopefully, that’s going to be the easy part for the 28-year-old Blackzilian.
For now, it looks like he’s in the home stretch.
If “Rumble” keeps his winning streak alive and caps off his 2012 campaign with an impressive stoppage during NBC Sports’ inaugural World Series of Fighting fight card this Saturday, his year of toiling on the smaller shows should be over.
[McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.]
(Now that Anthony Johnson competes at light-heavyweight, we can all stop freaking out about this photo.)
You don’t call yourself the “World Series of Fighting” without lofty aspirations. The upstart MMA promotion launched by former K-1 star Ray Sefo (!) will be hosting its first event on November 3rd at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, and has already inked a deal to air its first card live on the NBC Sports Network (?!?).
And to give viewers a reason to tune in, the WSOF has been hard at work snatching up as many big name ex-UFC fighters as possible, and putting them in surprisingly competitive fights. Here’s a little taste of what the matchmakers have planned for World Series of Fighting 1…
– Anthony Johnson, now 2-0 as a light-heavyweight, will look to make it three in a row against 14-3 moneyweight DJ Linderman, who holds the Cage Warriors heavyweight title and was a semi-finalist in Bellator’s season 4 light-heavyweight tournament last year.
(Now that Anthony Johnson competes at light-heavyweight, we can all stop freaking out about this photo.)
You don’t call yourself the “World Series of Fighting” without lofty aspirations. The upstart MMA promotion launched by former K-1 star Ray Sefo (!) will be hosting its first event on November 3rd at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, and has already inked a deal to air its first card live on the NBC Sports Network (?!?).
And to give viewers a reason to tune in, the WSOF has been hard at work snatching up as many big name ex-UFC fighters as possible, and putting them in surprisingly competitive fights. Here’s a little taste of what the matchmakers have planned for World Series of Fighting 1…
– Anthony Johnson, now 2-0 as a light-heavyweight, will look to make it three in a row against 14-3 moneyweight DJ Linderman, who holds the Cage Warriors heavyweight title and was a semi-finalist in Bellator’s season 4 light-heavyweight tournament last year.
– Fresh off a successful welterweight debut in May, former middleweight/TUF vet/funnyman Gerald Harris will be facing fellow 170-pounder Josh Burkman, who’s gone 5-1 since being released by the UFC in 2008.
– Riding an 11-fight win streak — including an armbar victory over a dude named, no shit, Wanderson Silva — Ronys Torres will face UFC one-and-doner Brian Cobb, who most recently dropped a decision to Antonio McKee in a classic “you’re both getting fired” match under the MFC banner.
The current lineup is below. Additional undercard bouts will be confirmed shortly.
Main Card
Andrei Arlovski vs. Devin Cole (HW)
Anthony Johnson vs. D.J. Linderman (LHW)
Miguel Torres vs. Marlon Moraes (BW)
Gregor Gracie vs. Tyson Steele (WW)
Preliminary Card
Josh Burkman vs. Gerald Harris (WW)
Ronys Torres vs. Brian Cobb (LW)
Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante vs. TJ O’Brien (LW)
Tyrone Spong vs. Travis Bartlett (LHW)
David Branch vs. Dustin Jacoby (MW)
Steve Carl vs. Ramico Blackmon (WW)
Waylon Lowe vs. Fabio Mello (FW)
I have nothing witty to say here – I’m just still not over the fact that the bulkiest guy in this picture once thought he was a welterweight.
Only one month removed from his official light-heavyweight debut, Anthony Johnson returned to action in the main event of last night’s Xtreme Fight Night 9 against fellow UFC washout Jake Rosholt. It’s always a risky move to book more than one fight at a time, but in Johnson’s case, the abundant optimism wasn’t without its merits, as he shut out Rosholt’s lights with a head kick in the second round. Before you inevitably ask, no, Rumble did not miss weight, either.
The fight was reasonably close in the first round, but after an accidental eye-poke from Rosholt, Johnson went straight into beast mode. Jake Rosholt had no answers for Anthony Johnson’s aggressive striking, and was such a bloody mess by the end of the fight that the referee almost called the bout before the head kick. Perhaps the most interesting part of this fight was the fact that Johnson was able to take the three-time NCAA Division One Champion down; not exactly an easy task.
I have nothing witty to say here – I’m just still not over the fact that the bulkiest guy in this picture once thought he was a welterweight.
Only one month removed from his official light-heavyweight debut, Anthony Johnson returned to action in the main event of last night’s Xtreme Fight Night 9 against fellow UFC washout Jake Rosholt. It’s always a risky move to book more than one fight at a time, but in Johnson’s case, the abundant optimism wasn’t without its merits, as he shut out Rosholt’s lights with a head kick in the second round. Before you inevitably ask, no, Rumble did not miss weight, either.
The fight was reasonably close in the first round, but after an accidental eye-poke from Rosholt, Johnson went straight into beast mode. Jake Rosholt had no answers for Anthony Johnson’s aggressive striking, and was such a bloody mess by the end of the fight that the referee almost called the bout before the head kick. Perhaps the most interesting part of this fight was the fact that Johnson was able to take the three-time NCAA Division One Champion down; not exactly an easy task.
After watching Anthony Johnson pick up such impressive victories since being cut from the UFC, one can’t help but wonder what could have been if Anthony Johnson was more careful with his body throughout his career. In some parallel universe, Rumble starts off as a light-heavyweight, doesn’t balloon up between fights and is possibly fighting Jon Jones tonight instead of Vitor Belfort. Instead, Anthony Johnson is a cautionary tale, a textbook example of weight cutting gone wrong and the living, breathing argument for banning the entire practice. It’s sad that his career may have been destroyed by misguided attempts to compete in a weight class that he had no business trying to make. The fat jokes made at this guy’s expense are sad, too, but does anyone really want to read an amateur sociologist’s take on body dysmorphic disorder and bigorexia in the MMA community? Didn’t think so.
If you want to watch a video of the fight, you can find a few of them here. Hurry up before they get taken down.
If everything goes right this weekend, light heavyweight fighter 
