Anthony Johnson had some explicit words to say after critics showed discontent over two years ago. Johnson missed a weight in for a middleweight bout with Vitor Belfort. In a Facebook post which was later deleted, he wrote "I don't give a [expletive]. I'm laughing at you all." The bout push through which had Johnson fell on the losing end during the first round.
A lot has speculated that Johnson won't be able to redeem himself but alas, during Saturday night, Johnson proved all his critics wrong by stepping inside the octagon at the SAP Center and won a formidable match. The player just needed 44 seconds to launch a victory over veteran fighter Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the co-feature bout of UFC on FOX 12.
Johnson is now fighting in the light heavyweight division, he now appears composed, unassuming and alert making sure that he won't slip on his second chance.
According to Johnson "I've been down a pretty crazy road. The story of me is pretty out there. The best thing that ever happened to me is for [UFC president] Dana White and [UFC CEO] Lorenzo Fertitta to cut me. I'm grateful they gave me the chance to look at myself in the mirror."
Johnson was quick to admit that he had brought shame to his team during his trying days. He said "After I got cut by the UFC for not making weight, I realized I was making myself look like a fool. I was hurting my team. I was hurting my family. I was hurting myself. Sooner or later, you've got to grow up in life, and I think that in the two years I was away from the UFC, I grew up quite a bit."
On his way to revamp himself, he had missed weight couple of times, when he was playing for the welterweight division as well as when he fought for middleweight.
It was when moved on to the light heavyweight that he found his synch. From then on, he has won six straight fights which also include a victory at heavyweight over former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski.
UFC President Dana White talked about Johnson's redemption saying "It's amazing. I don't think we've ever had a guy go from 170 [pounds] to 205 and actually be more powerful and more devastating than he was at 170. I've never seen anything like it."
