(Rumble poses next to a normal-sized human being. Photo via KnoxxGear.)
By Ryan Ventura
For a long time, many fans have felt that Anthony Johnson was too big to be playing around in the welterweight jungle. But now they get their wish and he is making the jump to the middleweight division to face ‘The Phenom’ Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, January 14th in Rio. “I still want to fight at 170,” said Johnson “but I’m excited about making the jump to 185 and we’ll see what happens after this fight is over.”
In a way, this opportunity to fight the legendary Vitor Belfort is coming full circle for Anthony Johnson. The two first met after Anthony’s very first professional Mixed Martial Arts bout back in 2006. “I knocked out my opponent in one minute and nine seconds. Vitor happened to be in the crowd, Shogun Rua was too. After the fight, Vitor gave me props and shook my hand. I never thought I’d be fighting a man who I shook hands with many years ago. I’m a fan of Vitor Belfort and always will be. It’s going to be fun fighting him.”
(Rumble poses next to a normal-sized human being. Photo via KnoxxGear.)
By Ryan Ventura
For a long time, many fans have felt that Anthony Johnson was too big to be playing around in the welterweight jungle. But now they get their wish and he is making the jump to the middleweight division to face ‘The Phenom’ Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, January 14th in Rio. “I still want to fight at 170,” said Johnson “but I’m excited about making the jump to 185 and we’ll see what happens after this fight is over.”
In a way, this opportunity to fight the legendary Vitor Belfort is coming full circle for Anthony Johnson. The two first met after Anthony’s very first professional Mixed Martial Arts bout back in 2006. “I knocked out my opponent in one minute and nine seconds. Vitor happened to be in the crowd, Shogun Rua was too. After the fight, Vitor gave me props and shook my hand. I never thought I’d be fighting a man who I shook hands with many years ago. I’m a fan of Vitor Belfort and always will be. It’s going to be fun fighting him.”
Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting ExclusiveThe call came as a surprise. Anthony Johnson was at home when his phone rang, with manager Glenn Robinson on the line. Since defeating Charlie Brenneman in early October, Johnson had been awaiting his next assign…
The call came as a surprise. Anthony Johnson was at home when his phone rang, with manager Glenn Robinson on the line. Since defeating Charlie Brenneman in early October, Johnson had been awaiting his next assignment, and he instinctively knew this was it.
“I knew it was something serious,” he told MMA Fighting. “He doesn’t just call to joke around.”
But when Robinson passed along the UFC‘s fight offer, Johnson couldn’t help but be a bit taken aback. After winning two straight as a welterweight, Johnson’s services were being requested in the middleweight division. And if that wasn’t enough, he was being asked to fight recent No. 1 contender Vitor Belfort. On his home soil.
“It surprised me,” he said of the offer to face Belfort at UFC 142. “It really did. Just for a second. I said at first, ‘Are you serious?’ I really didn’t believe it, but he’s straight-up and honest so I knew he was being serious. I had no hesitation. I said, ‘Alright, let’s do this. Let’s have fun with this.'”
Johnson (10-3) says that the time was going to eventually come to move up to 185 pounds. The move has been talked about for years by media and fans. But it was not something that he was thinking about when the call came. In each of his last two fights, he says he had no problem making the welterweight limit, and even after accepting this fight at middleweight, he’s not committed to making it his permanent home.
The way Johnson views it, it’s just a golden opportunity, one simply not worth passing up.
“This is a challenge, and what’s life without challenges?” he said. “I hopped on this challenge and accepted it. Sometimes you have to go out of your comfort zone or your element just to see how you do.”
The matchup between the two is fascinating in that they are both heavy strikers with one-punch knockout power. Johnson has a wrestling background and Belfort’s takedown defense has rapidly improved over time.
Without question, Belfort presents Johnson’s most intriguing challenge to date. In November 2009, he faced Josh Koscheck and lost via rear naked choke. But Belfort doesn’t have Koscheck’s wrestling acumen, and he probably won’t look to take the fight to the ground.
That makes is possible that the two will test their proven standup skills against each other. And that suits Johnson.
“I feel just fine about the matchup,” he said. “He can’t do nothing that I can’t do. Anything he thinks he can do, I think I can do better. I think it’s a pretty even matchup. He’s fast, I’m fast. He’s powerful, I’m powerful. It’s going to be a fight that really determines who’s the man at the end of the day. Either one of us can get dropped, so it’s going to see who has the most heart.”
Johnson doesn’t say that with any inflated sense of self-worth. When asked why he accepted the fight in the first place, he said simply, “it’s Vitor,” before outlining the Brazilian’s many accomplishments as a former champion, top 10 contender and influence on him.
Johnson, who currently weighs 210 pounds, says he has no idea how his body will feel at his new weight class, but believes he’ll be even faster and have more energy than normal. So in essence, this is a test, but it’s coming against one of the most dangerous men in the division.
In Johnson’s mind, he has nothing to lose. If he does fall to defeat, he can return to welterweight and continue his career there. If he happens to win, he’ll be a hot commodity in two weight classes. But defining his weight class and winning a championship is not a priority. At least not right now.
“When it comes down to it, the belt is where it’s at,” he said. “That’s everyone’s goal. But right now I’m thinking about what’s directly head of me. The belt is out of sight, out of mind.”
Johnson has his marching orders, and that’s to prepare for his fight on foreign turf. That alone is a scarier proposition than fighting Belfort, he says, noting that his “Blackzilians” teammate Danilo Villefort, a native Brazilian, told him that the local fans chanted “You’re going to die” to several American fighters during August’s UFC 134.
That won’t change anything for him, not when there’s so much to gain. Whether he’s a welterweight, middleweight or somewhere in between will be an ongoing question. On January 14, we will at least learn a piece of that answer.
“All I know is I’m going to win,” he said. “I’m going to go out and do my best, and give the fans what they want and deserve. This is my first fight in Brazil. I have so much energy and excitement built up in me for this. I’m ready to get in camp, get with the Blackzilians and do what we do: train hard and win fights.”
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson seemed on his way towards the top of the UFC Welterweight food chain after a win over Charlie Brenneman, and had Johnson stayed at 170 pounds, there would be no telling who he might have drawn in his next bout.However, a consen…
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson seemed on his way towards the top of the UFC Welterweight food chain after a win over Charlie Brenneman, and had Johnson stayed at 170 pounds, there would be no telling who he might have drawn in his next bout.
However, a consensus-demanded move to middleweight found itself in the cards for Mr. Johnson, and the way he is being rewarded for the decision to jump to middleweight could not have been more instrumental in deciding his future potential as a fighter.
However, the reward in this instance comes with a risk: defeat for Johnson at UFC 142 in Brazil will not come with a release or a relegation to the Facebook prelims of a future card, but it will come with the misfortune of being just another highlight on Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort’s reel.
Disregard foolishly the accomplishments of Belfort if that is your choice, but never deny that Vitor Belfort still has vicious hand speed and power.
Even if the failure to unleash the beast led to famously getting a Curitiba curb-stomping from Anderson Silva on Super Bowl Weekend, it does not make this fight any less of a test for Johnson, who has the kind of wrestling needed to put Belfort in danger and the kind of knockout power that very few fighters have been able to unleash on Belfort.
The question is, will Johnson be ready for what Belfort will offer him in what might be the biggest test of his career?
Belfort has two hands that say he will not, and if that is so on fight night, Johnson will be in for a long night.
Johnson is riding a two-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision victory over Dan Hardy and a first-round TKO of Charlie Brenneman last month. Due to his habit of packing on mass outside of training camps — which resulted in him blowing weight by six pounds before his 2009 fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida — speculation about Rumble’s size has hounded him for most of his UFC career. Competing at a more natural weight could be the best thing for his career. Just ask Alistair Overeem, if he ever gets a break between killing people.
(Yeah, this is probably for the best.)
It’s been a long time coming. The UFC confirmed today that disturbingly large welterweight contender Anthony Johnson will make the jump to 185 pounds and meet Vitor Belfort at UFC 142 (January 14th, somewhere in Brazil), in support of the Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes featherweight title match.
Johnson is riding a two-fight win streak, including a unanimous decision victory over Dan Hardy and a first-round TKO of Charlie Brenneman last month. Due to his habit of packing on mass outside of training camps — which resulted in him blowing weight by six pounds before his 2009 fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida — speculation about Rumble’s size has hounded him for most of his UFC career. Competing at a more natural weight could be the best thing for his career. Just ask Alistair Overeem, if he ever gets a break between killing people.
Anthony Johnson has finally made the step most felt was inevitable, moving up a division to middleweight.
It won’t take him long to get tested at his new home. The fearsome slugger will step right into the upper echelon of the division when he takes on Vitor Belfort at UFC 142.
The promotion confirmed the matchup on Tuesday.
Johnson has spent his entire UFC career at 170 pounds, though he’s struggled to make weight on more than one occasion. The timing of the move comes as a bit of a surprise though, as Johnson returned from a 16-month absence earlier this year and got off to a 2-0 start with wins over Dan Hardy and Charlie Brenneman.
Belfort would represent his highest-ranked opponent since losing to Josh Koscheck in November 2009.
Johnson is 10-3 overall with seven knockouts, and has won five of his last six.
Belfort recently rebounded from a UFC 126 title fight loss to Anderson Silva by knocking out Yoshihiro Akiyama in August. That upped his record to 20-9.
UFC 142 will take place on January 14 from a yet-to-be determined location in Brazil. The only other officially announced bout is a featherweight title bout with champion Jose Aldo attempting to defend his belt against Chad Mendes.
If UFC 137 proved anything, it’s that Nick Diaz is a significantly better fighter was when we last saw him in the UFC. Critics have pointed out that the former Strikeforce champion has never really defeated a top-10 welterweight. That came to a c…
If UFC 137 proved anything, it’s that Nick Diaz is a significantly better fighter was when we last saw him in the UFC. Critics have pointed out that the former Strikeforce champion has never really defeated a top-10 welterweight. That came to a crushing halt at UFC 137.
Diaz was an absolute monster last night as he completely destroyed former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion BJ Penn, exploiting what was considered to be the strongest aspect of Penn’s game—his boxing. Never before has Penn been dominated like that in a fight and the performance earned Diaz a title fight against Georges St-Pierre on Super Bowl weekend in 2012.
The hype surrounding Diaz right now is astonishing. Some are even saying that he should be the favorite in his fight against St-Pierre. But the reality is that while Diaz looked amazing on Saturday night, we still haven’t seen him tested in what has unquestionably been his worst area—his wrestling.
The welterweight division may be the most stacked division in the league when it comes to wrestling and there are a handful of fighters who could definitely still take advantage of the weak point in Diaz’s game.
It is my opinion that not only do these six UFC welterweight wrestlers have a chance against Diaz—I believe they’d all walk out as winners against Mr. Diaz.
The call came as a surprise. 
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson seemed on his way towards the top of the UFC Welterweight food chain after a win over Charlie Brenneman, and had Johnson stayed at 170 pounds, there would be no telling who he might have drawn in his next bout.
