UFC 142 Video: Anthony Johnson Looks Scary At Middleweight
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 10, 2012 12:54 AM EST
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The UFC has released another installment of 'Fighter Diary', and this time, it gives us an inside look on the camp of Anthony Johnson. He has had trouble making weight at times during his days as a welterweight, and now, he will be moving up to take on middleweight contender Vitor Belfort at UFC 142 in Brazil.
Basing on looks alone, it already appears that Johnson would be a great fit at middleweight. Without having to diet and cut as much weight to make 185 lbs, he seems roughly the same size as his training partner, former light heavyweight champion, Rashad Evans.
Now that he doesn't have to compromise his conditioning by cutting that much weight anymore, could this be his Alistair Overeem moment? Could this move up in weight make him perform much better? I guess we'll find out for sure this weekend.
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I really hope he gets past Vitor
I don’t know why but I’ve always wanted to see Anthony Johnson succeed. After he got screwed by those eye pokes I’ve always cheered for him
I think he can beat Vitor.
If he uses the same strategy he used against Hardy (don’t stand with the guy, out wrestle and tire him out on the ground first)
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 10, 2012 12:58 AM EST up reply actions
I'm worried I may be exaggerating how good Rumble's wrestling is
It was Dan Hardy after all
Quietly leading Cecil Peoples Champs to victory and beyond.
All in the game yo, all in the game
by Our Bovine Public on Jan 10, 2012 6:33 AM EST up reply actions
Wrestling
Nah, we all know wrestling vs. MMA wrestling are a different story, but regardless, Johnson’s wrestling is up to par on both counts I believe. He was originally a wrestler and wrestled in JC as well. (I know that may not mean much in most sports, but even your average JC wrestler is an absolute beeeast.)
by Anthony Kang on Jan 10, 2012 6:20 PM EST up reply actions
Just watch
He’s still going to somehow come overweight for the fight.
No kidding. Why a guy who walks around at 230 is not fighting at 205 is beyond me....
I typed this whole thing with a broken frickin' skull!
by theprodigy1981 on Jan 10, 2012 2:24 PM EST up reply actions
Do health and quality of life mean anything?
At least he’s not 170 anymore
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by halitosis on Jan 10, 2012 5:56 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
probably cuz
Rashad is at 205 and was the former champ and didn’t wanna fight his teammate and probably thought that GSP would be easier than Anderson Silva?
He makes Rashad look small.
Hopefully he can be a force in the division.
by The Armchair Juggernaut on Jan 10, 2012 1:19 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Because Rashad is smaller
he’s the smallest at LHW and doesn’t even cut weight to make LHW.
So you’re saying he’s an explosive and athletic version of Frankie Edgar?
by Pyrgz Krum on Jan 10, 2012 2:13 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
He looks way bigger than Rashad. In fact, he didn’t look that much smaller than Bigfoot Silva in this video!
I will be interested to see how Johnson adapts to the middleweight division – the weight-cut alone is going to be more favourable to his body this time around. I think Vitor takes it, but Johnson is going to give him some problems in the there, for sure.
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by @KatanaClothing on Jan 10, 2012 5:48 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Bigfoot sighting. 1:51
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Michael Johnson and Claude Patrick training with Blackzilians too.
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True to form, it's kinda blurry.
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by pdl on Jan 10, 2012 1:36 AM EST up reply actions 7 recs
Lol fail
I believe in Chael Sonnen.
by WanderChe on Jan 10, 2012 3:26 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I've said for a long time that Rumble won't be a top level fighter until he focuses more on getting better and training
and less on managing to make an insane weight cut. Really happy he’s making the move to 185 and I expect him to be a serious player in the division, win or lose against Vitor.
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-Randall Munroe
Yeah, he's in a win-win position for this fight
He’ll wreck a lot of guys at 185, no matter what happens against Vitor. Fast tracking to a title fight with a win might not even be the best idea for him straight away.
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by Charles Awad on Jan 10, 2012 10:54 AM EST up reply actions
I really hope he beats Vitor
Just blitzes him.
Nothing against Vitor…but I’d like some new blood in the division.
"You got Floyd Mayweather making 25 million dollars...he can't stop the double leg." - Nick Diaz
Insane that this guy fought
at 170. It boggles my mind how this kid made welterweight. He is clearly bigger than Rashad Evans. Whichever weight class he settles on he is going to be a threat to the title holder.
I hope me makes 185!
Looks way better in this – so long as hasn’t used this to add bulk and another killer weight cut. It will be interesting to compare his weigh-in photo with these camp shots.
Rumble took that 10-9 against Rashad
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by yellopanda on Jan 10, 2012 2:08 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
I don't know...
if he’s just being lazy because of the camera in his face or what, but those arm bar transitions were horrible. You’re supposed to be able to swing that leg around in a fluid motion, not hobble like you’ve had too many drinks.
as he said,
“I’m not going for armbars, I’m punching from here”
by Anton Tabuena on Jan 10, 2012 2:20 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah I know he’s no BJJ whiz but it’s not often you see someone show such wooden technique
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by StevenGiles on Jan 10, 2012 10:58 AM EST up reply actions
Rumble winning a couple fights at mw would definitely make things interesting for the division. He’d be a worthy contender for Silva at least.
i would say he is an ample replacement for Nate the great
lets see how he fairs against the phenom though, opinions change quickly once that blitz hits
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It’s good to see him training with the right people as he is training in Florida with Rashad Evans at Imperial Athletics and the Blackzilians. Middleweight is such a good fit for him too as he is a good height and should be able to safely cut to 185. While he is capable of beating Belfort if he uses the right strategy, I would have liked to see him fight someone more mid-tier at this new weight first before fighting someone like Belfort.
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I always thought Johnson would do leaps and bounds better at middleweight. Vitor might be above him for now, but at Middleweight he’s still going to be much stronger relative to his competition, faster, and he won’t be near-murdering himself with the cut every fight.
by Patrick John McGreevy on Jan 10, 2012 6:13 AM EST reply actions
yeah his armbar SUCKED
To have a Cannae you must have a Varo
-George Patton
"The complete man must work, study and wrestle."
-Aristotle
Strong wrestler
Strong-jitsu.
I suspect Rumble’s game is more defensive grappling off his back, get to his feet, throw bombs.
by AngryTwinkie on Jan 10, 2012 10:14 AM EST up reply actions
oh yeah I agree, I think he is a great fighter overall
but he was going to the armbar from mount, and it was awful
To have a Cannae you must have a Varo
-George Patton
"The complete man must work, study and wrestle."
-Aristotle
good to see he's taking his training on the ground seriously...
Now I've switched signature to this one.
by the guy with the big nose on Jan 10, 2012 6:30 AM EST reply actions
I think right now
Rumble is thinking, "why did I ever fight at Weltetweight this is all soooo much better when that weight cut isn’t looming! "
I think Rumble could be a force at 185
To have a Cannae you must have a Varo
-George Patton
"The complete man must work, study and wrestle."
-Aristotle
Looks like he still has a sizeable cut ahead of him to make 185.
by Schwizzles on Jan 10, 2012 8:38 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, he said he was 213 lbs on the day of the media call last week. So that’s almost 30 pounds roughly a week before weigh-ins.
See and learn the secret death touch!
by Horselover Fat on Jan 10, 2012 9:47 AM EST up reply actions
That just further illustrates how absurd it was for him to compete at 170
by Schwizzles on Jan 10, 2012 10:28 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
True, he went uber-rumble instead of starving himself.
See and learn the secret death touch!
by Horselover Fat on Jan 10, 2012 11:56 AM EST up reply actions
He is still starving himself this week though.
Can you imagine the repercussions if he misses weight at 185? It is laughable thinking about it.
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Good point, as we noted it’s still going to be a big cut for him. If he doesn’t make it he’ll be a laughing stock forever, but I have a hard time seeing that happen.
See and learn the secret death touch!
by Horselover Fat on Jan 10, 2012 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
I see him making the cut
but it is interesting to me that he should enter this fight without the worry of not making weight. He should have been able to keep his mind clear and focus purely on training. We might see a whole new fighter.
Vote Ron Paul 2012
Yes, exactly. I’m not a huge fan or anything but I’m legitimately intrigued to see him fight on Saturday, should be very interesting.
See and learn the secret death touch!
by Horselover Fat on Jan 10, 2012 4:29 PM EST up reply actions
I can't bring myself to buy it.
I swore off the “average” cards a year or so ago, but I will tune in to the live threads to get the gist of wha tis going on.
I like the potential of AJ at 185. That potential could easil be realized on Saturday, but it pisses me off that AJ gets Vitor in his first fight up and Stann loses to Sonnen and gets to fight Sakarra. The depth is atrocious.
Vote Ron Paul 2012
Yeah, I’m not going to pay for this one either, not worth it. I’ll probably watch it on some shitty stream though, or maybe download the day after. I’ll gladly pay for good cards, like the last one, but here they’re really stretching it. Also for 141 I had purchased the UFC.tv online PPV, but the site was down. Luckily I found a shitty stream for substitute, and I guess the site began working sometime before the main event. Either way I e-mailed them asking for a refund, but they basically told me flat no, because it had began working and was available to view for 24 hours afterwards. So, to summarize, no bad feelings about pirating every now and then.
Haha, yeah it’s pretty strange matchmaking. I hope it doesn’t get Rumble the idea to go back to WW if he loses to Vitor.
See and learn the secret death touch!
by Horselover Fat on Jan 10, 2012 6:29 PM EST up reply actions
Someone should make a terrible training video
Where they look slow, rusty and out of shape
Then blitz the opponent on fight night with everything they were holding back in the video
like shogun did
except for the blitzing of the opponent with everything they were holding back part..
Now I've switched signature to this one.
by the guy with the big nose on Jan 10, 2012 9:22 AM EST up reply actions
Didn’t he blitz Forrest in the fight following the release of that awful strobe glasses training video?
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by NickRingp4pGOAT on Jan 10, 2012 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
Pretty sure that was before the Jones fight
They showed him doing a bunch of football-type quick burst workouts, and he was doing them neither quick nor bursting.
Not afraid to nitpick
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by T.C. Engel on Jan 10, 2012 12:18 PM EST via mobile reply actions
He’ll do fine as long as he protects the back of his head.
by mcgriff on Jan 10, 2012 12:44 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Wow
Cannot believe how many people on here think Johnson is going to win this fight. Vitor has the advantage in almost everything but wrestling, and even then, I think Vitor’s TD defense is more than enough to defend against Rumble’s shot. I like Rumble as much as the next guy, but Vitor is going to blow his doors off.
I typed this whole thing with a broken frickin' skull!
Rumble Wins!
He’s going to break Vitor mentally. When Vitor can’t get off the way he wants to he will not want any more of Johnson who is just as athletic as he is.
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