Michael Johnson News

Scott Hernandez - July 19, 2017

Last month, veteran UFC referee Mario Yamasaki caught heat for a rather controversial stoppage he made during the UFC Fight Night 112 main event scrap between Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee. With Chiesa trapped in a rear naked choke with no escape in sight, ‘The Maverick’ stopped hand fighting the choke, and momentarily appeared to go limp, at which point Yamasaki promptly stopped the fight. Immediately, Chiesa popped up to protest the stoppage, however the fight was already over. The stoppage was an extremely controversial one in the eyes of many because despite Chiesa momentarily stopping his hand fighting, he never verbally, or physically, tapped out.

Tom Taylor - July 10, 2017

On Friday night, in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter season 25 finale, former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje made his UFC debut against the UFC’s fifth-ranked lightweight Michael Johnson. It was a war for the ages that saw Johnson control the early moments, and Gaethje ultimately surge back to score a TKO victory in the second. Early on Monday morning, Johnson took to Instagram to speak up for the first time since this action-packed loss. From the sounds of it, the dynamic lightweight is in good spirits, despite coming up short in this wild fight.

Scott Hernandez - July 8, 2017

Friday night in the TUF 25 Redemption Finale, former WSOF champion Justin Gaethje picked up a thrilling win over Michael Johnson in the main event, as the two delivered an action-packed two rounds that ultimately saw Gaethje pick up a TKO win over ‘The Meance’. Following the fight, Gaethje called out top ranked UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson to a scrap, explaining that he was looking for the quickest path to the interim lightweight title, and then a scrap with Conor McGregor for the undisputed title after McGregor has his ‘Fight of the Century’ boxing match with Floyd Mayweather on August 26th.

Scott Hernandez - July 8, 2017

Friday night in Las Vegas, Justin Gaethje made his highly anticipated UFC debut as he faced UFC veteran Michael Johnson in a highly anticipated grudge match that will go down as one of the most thrilling fights of all time. The fight earned praise from nearly every member of the MMA community given its back and forth nature. Following the fight, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor took to social media to give his reaction to the bout:

Scott Hernandez - May 23, 2017

https://youtu.be/h6ml_LPRsNY UFC lightweight Michael Johnson is likely in a ‘must win’ situation for his next fight. Although Johnson is ranked at #6 on the UFC’s official rankings, in a stacked lightweight division, he could very well find his ranking dropping if he loses his next fight. While Johnson is one of the most explosive fighters in the lightweight division, he has gone through a bit of a rough patch over the past two years. After having his 4-fight win streak snapped by a split decision loss to Beneil Dariush, Johnson dropped a unanimous decision loss to Nate Diaz.

Tom Taylor - May 7, 2017

Top-10 UFC lightweight Michael Johnson has not been seen in the Octagon since November of 2016, when he succumbed to a third-round submission dealt by undefeated Dagestani star Khabib Nurmagomedov. This, however, is not for lack of trying. Having recovered from his loss to Nurmagomedov, Johnson has been eager for a return to the cage for some time. Unfortunately, he’s had a very difficult time finding a willing dance partner. On the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio, Johnson explained that he believes this is because many of the UFC’s top lightweights are reluctant to take tough fights.

Tom Taylor - May 4, 2017

Shortly after his submission loss to light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 210, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson announced his plans to retire from mixed martial arts. Given that Rumble remained in the prime of his career, this news came as a definite surprise to pretty much everyone. On the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio, Rumble’s long-time teammate Michael Johnson weighed in on this surprising retirement from MMA.

Tom Taylor - May 4, 2017

The lightweight division is one of the most stacked divisions in the UFC. That said, things are a little chaotic in the division at the moment, as champ Conor McGregor is pursuing a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has been sidelined with illness and religious obligations, and the fan favorite Nate Diaz has no plans to fight. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, dangerous lightweight contender Michael Johnson weighed in on the situation at lightweight – particularly on the absences of McGregor and Nurmagomedov.

Scott Hernandez - May 3, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio is live at 8PM ET/5PM PT with John Wayne Parr, Elias Theodorou, and Michael Johnson! 8:15PM ET- Kicking off tonights show is the legendary kick boxer, John Wayne Parr @johnwayneparr. Just a few weeks removed from his blistering head-kick KO victory over Nando Calzetta at Bellator Kickboxing 5, we’ll be discussing the huge win in Italy and get his thoughts on making his Bellator debut. While JWP was originally expecting to face Giorgio Petrosyan, you’ll hear the latest on what Parr’s intentions are moving forward with the promotion.

Scott Hernandez - March 4, 2017

Friday afternoon, unfortunate news surfaced that prior to his co-main event interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, Khabib Nurmagomedov had been taken to the hospital by his team.

Scott Hernandez - November 24, 2016

It’s no secret that the lightweight division is one of the UFC’s most exciting divisions. The top 5 of the UFC’s lightweight division according to the promotions official rankings are as follows: Champion – Conor McGregor #1 Khabib Nurmagomedov #2 Tony Ferguson #3 Eddie Alvarez #4 Rafael dos Anjos #5 Nate Diaz

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. 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.

Tom Taylor - November 13, 2016

Last night, on the undercard of UFC 205, lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov extended his record to a sparkling 24-0. He did so with an incredible win over a game Michael Johnson. Nurmagomedov achieved this win by soundly out-grappling his foe until he found an opening for a kimura in the third round.

Scott Hernandez - November 10, 2016

With just days to go until UFC 205, the UFC’s historical inaugural event in New York, which will be hosted at the Madison Square Garden, the anticipation among fans for the card is at an all-time high. While the card will play host to three title fights, fans have continued to talk about the preliminary card fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Michael Johnson, where Nurmagomedov could potentially continue his unbeaten streak and secure himself a lightweight title shot. On the other hand, for Johnson, the fight very well could aid him in cracking the lightweight top 5 should he beat the #2 ranked Nurmagomedov.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

This year, Nate Diaz has made millions of dollars of the course of two welterweight bouts with Irish Superstar Conor McGregor. Of course, Diaz didn’t just stumble into these lucrative bouts. He demanded them in a profanity-riddled diatribe after a 2015 decision victory over Michael Johnson. This past weekend, Johnson returned to the win column with a beautiful knockout win over the streaking Dustin Poirier. On the heels of this win, Johnson appeared on The MMA Hour to weigh in on the victory, the state of his career, and perhaps most interestingly, the massive success Diaz achieved after their fight.

Tom Taylor - September 18, 2016

Last night, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 94, Michael Johnson scored big with a beautiful, first-round knockout of the streaking Dustin Poirier.

Chris Taylor - September 17, 2016

Michael “The Menace” Johnson scored a brutal first-round knockout victory over Dustin Poirier in the main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 94 event in Hidalgo, Texas. Johnson was able to slip a Poirier combination and then catch “The Diamond” with a big counter right hand, followed by a straight left, which sent Dustin crashing to the canvas.

Scott Hernandez - September 17, 2016

Saturday night in Hidalgo, Texas, #7 ranked lightweight Dustin Poirier, and #10 ranked lightweight Michael Johnson will step into the Octagon to clash in the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Hidalgo’. The fight is a pivotal one for both men. Poirier will enter the bout on a 4-fight win streak that has seen him take the lightweight division by storm. After being TKOd by Conor McGregor on the main card of UFC 178, Poirier made the move to lightweight. Since making the move he has been on a tear, most recently defeating Bobby Green via 1st round KO.