The Untold Story of How Anthony Johnson Injured his Knee

by Jonathan Snowden on Nov 19, 2009 10:34 AM EST

Anthony Johnson disappointed a lot of fans and supporters by coming in overweight for his UFC 104 bout with Japan's Yoshiyuki Yoshida. Way over the welterweight limit, Johnson blamed a new system trainers had concocted to help him retain as much size as possible going into the cage. But there was another reason he had trouble-an injury had prevented him from training like he should have before the fight.

"You know I hurt my knee last year training," says Johnson. "I think it was the first day I went to Cung Le’s gym and I was just learning how to kick and I end up kicking Thai pads. Whenever you kick you’re supposed to turn your hips. I couldn’t kick to save my life so Cung is holding the Thai pads for me and I kicked the Thai pads then I turned my hips. That caused my meniscus to tear and I just never got it fixed and I was training for Matt Brown and I ended up getting lazy and not turning my hip and kicking again and I messed myself up."

The lesson? Not everyone can throw kicks like Cung Le, and if you try, you will likely break yourself.

More of an exclsuive interview with Anthony Johnson at Heavy.com.

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Weird way

I ended up slightly tearing my meniscus while hopping….

Only because I didn’t know my ACL was ruptured.

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by achengy on Nov 19, 2009 11:33 AM EST reply actions

I get shin splits pretty easily. So, despite that, I decided to run on the treadmill on Monday.

Well, yesterday my shin had been bothering me throughout the day, then all of a sudden while I’m just sitting at my desk at work, my knee starts to hurt. It got so bad that I had to more or less hop to the bathroom.

Fortunately for me, it was fine after about 15 minutes.

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by Brett Jones on Nov 19, 2009 11:42 AM EST up reply actions

Shin splints suck. It got to the point this year where I could barely run 3 miles. A couple of years ago I was running as far as 30 miles at a time and here I was basically crippled by shin splints.

You may already be aware of these exercises and warmups, but if not, they will basically cure your shin splints. http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/0161-shin-splints-treatment.htm

by cmsove on Nov 19, 2009 9:02 PM EST up reply actions

He still missed weight

There is something to that. You can’t make weight, you can’t fight. Yes he hurt himself but GODDAMN, he missed weight. I love AJ but if he can not make weight for a fight, that’s trouble. Can’t wait until tomorrow

"All I guarantee is violence" - Wand

by rockied on Nov 19, 2009 11:31 PM EST reply actions