The look on Michael Johnson’s face said it all. After nine minutes and 48 seconds of some of the most hellacious action you will see in a prizefight, he had left it all in the Octagon against Justin Gaethje, and it was something to be proud of.
Not yet, though. First, Johnson had to deal with the second-round TKO loss he suffered against Gaethje in Las Vegas on July 7, and he wasn’t ready for that yet. That was a fighter’s pride talking, so he didn’t even realize that he was one-half of the best fight of 2017.
“I had no idea we were putting on a Fight of the Year performance,” Johnson said of the bout. “All the credit to Justin, he came in and fought an incredible fight and he had a great game plan. I made some mistakes, I led with my head too much and caught some accidental headbutts and it really switched my momentum in the fight. I’m never a guy to fight on my heels, and I fought on my heels that whole fight. I was half-knocked out, so I get to the back and everybody’s like, ‘Man, that was a great fight, it was probably Fight of the Year.’ And I’m looking at them like, ‘What, really? I thought we were just in there fighting.’ (Laughs) So it was incredible to get that response from everybody afterwards, especially after taking a loss.”
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The defeat left Johnson with a 1-4 mark in his last five bouts, a deceptive slate considering that he was competing against Gaethje, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dustin Poirier, Nate Diaz and Beneil Dariush, but again, guys like Johnson don’t take one loss well, let alone four. It was the recipe for anyone to lock themselves in a room and brood, but “The Menace” didn’t need that long.
“It’s crazy, but I only took a week off,” he said. “I needed my leg to heal (from Gaethje’s assault of kicks). After that, I went to the gym and I didn’t wear gloves for two weeks. All I did was kick and move because that’s where I got beat in that fight – him kicking my legs and me not moving as much. So I went back to the gym and worked on the details, and I started getting stronger, started getting my weight down, and then the fight got brought to me and of course we took it and we’re ready to go.”
This Sunday, Johnson makes his first start since the Gaethje fight when he faces Darren Elkins in a UFC Fight Night bout. It’s a major event for the 31-year-old in a lot of ways, mainly being that he’s fighting at home in St. Louis and that he’s making his featherweight debut. And while being at home with family and friends is nice, especially since his favorite pizza spot, Imo’s, is catering his after party, it’s the whole move to 145 thing that has garnered the most attention, and Johnson is fine with talking about it.
“It’s been incredible,” he said. “It’s been life-changing and definitely career-changing and I really think this is gonna solidify
There’s only a handful of guys like myself left in this sport and I truly believe that