Teammates Michael Johnson and Kamaru Usman want to fight Dos Anjos and Maia in Brazil

By Tom Taylor - November 22, 2016

Last Saturday, on the main card of UFC Fight Night 100, streaking welterweight Kamaru Usman dominated Warlley Alves to a lopsided, unanimous decision win. It was one of the best wins of his already impressive career.

Michael Johnson

In the moments after his defeat of Alves, Usman sought to catapult himself up the welterweight rankings with a callout of the streaking Demian Maia. Unfortunately for him, Maia wasn’t particularly interested in this callout. Given that he holds the welterweight division’s number three spot, while Usman is not yet ranked, that’s not particularly surprising.

Despite Maia’s disinterest in this booking, Usman is unwilling to give up on it. On Monday evening, the welterweight prospect once again called for a bout with Maia, and even tried to set his teammate Michael Johnson up with a fight.

Apparently, Johnson wants to fight former champion Rafael Dos Anjos in the main event of the UFC’s next trip to Brazil. Should Johnson get this fight, Usman says he’d happily co-main event the card opposite Maia.

While it seem unlikely that Usman gets his fight with Maia, a bout between Johnson and Dos Anjos seems quite possible.

Though he entered 2016 as the best lightweight on earth, Dos Anjos has recently fallen on hard times. First, he succumbed to a first-round knockout dealt by Eddie Alvarez, surrendering the lightweight crown in the process. Then, he came up short in a five-round war with Tony Ferguson, which thrust him onto his first two-fight skid since 2009.

As a top-10 lightweight in the loss column, Johnson finds himself in a similar situation. Though he recently burst into title contention with a first-round walloping of Dustin Poirier, Johnson was since brought back to earth by Khabib Nurmagomedov, who dominated him en route to a third-round submission win at UFC 205.

Do you think Usman and Johnson will get their wishes and be booked for fights with Maia and Dos Anjos? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Demian Maia Kamaru Usman Michael Johnson Rafael dos Anjos