- Michael Johnson (fighter)
-
Michael Johnson Born Michael Johnson
June 4, 1986
St. Louis, Missouri, United StatesOther names The Menace Residence Missouri Nationality American Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Weight 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st) Division Lightweight Reach 74.0 in (188 cm) Style Boxing Fighting out of Boca Raton, Florida Team Imperial Athletics Years active 2008-present Mixed martial arts record Total 15 Wins 9 By knockout 5 By submission 2 By decision 2 Losses 6 By submission 5 By decision 1 Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog Michael Johnson (born June 6, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the lightweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Johnson mostly competed in his regional circuit, before signing onto the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit to appear on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.[1]
Contents
Mixed Martial Arts career
Background
Johnson began fighting at the age of 10, after his father's fatal heart attack. The incident made Johnson want to exert his anger physically.[2] Johnson later said, "I lost something, a huge part of me....Fighting was my way of not dealing with my dad's passing. Now that I think of it, of course, it was the wrong thing to do, especially putting all that burden on my mom having to deal with it."[2]
Johnson trains at Springfield Fight Club, which is an affiliate of Gracie Barra based in Springfield, Missouri. Johnson also works there as the assistant mixed martial arts coach.[3]
Johnson is a former Midwest Fight League & Xtreme Cage Fighting champion who won those titles in July 2008 and October 2009 respectively.[4]
One of Johnson's victories on the local circuit in Missouri is a unanimous decision win over Ramiro Hernandez Jr.[5] in a 150 lb catchweight bout.[6] Johnson also fought Joe Brammer[7] and James Krause,[8] losing both matches by submission. The fights against Krause and Brammer came consecutively and represented Johnson's only two-fight losing streak prior to joining the UFC.[5] The first fight, against Krause, came at "FM - Productions" in November 2008, where Johnson was a promotional veteran. Unfortunately for Johnson, the fight ended quickly, as Krause secured a submission in under three minutes.[5] In March 2009, Johnson returned for the Brammer fight, which he also lost via submission, this time to a guillotine choke in the fourth round of their title fight.[5]
Prior to joining the UFC, Johnson went on a three fight winning streak.[5]
The Ultimate Fighter
Johnson then signed onto the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit to appear on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.[1]
Johnson's entry onto the show was, in part, due to his persistence in attending tryouts for the show. After making the final interview round of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir, Johnson was told that he wasn't the right fit for the show.[2] Johnson then tried out for the ninth season of the show, before finally becoming accepted onto the twelfth season after telling the producers, "I've been getting tired of chasing you [expletive] around the country. I'm here; I'm not going to go anywhere. If you guys don't pick me, I'm going to try out again." Finally, Johnson was signed.[2]
Johnson's first fight took place on the debut episode of the season, where he faced unbeaten Pablo Garza. In an "impressive performance", Johnson scored a unanimous decision victory, which moved him into the house.[9]
In the second episode, both St-Pierre and Koscheck had Johnson at the top of their lists when it came time to select fighters. During the team selection process however, St-Pierre created a fake list which did not have Johnson among his top selections, and subtlely showed it to Koscheck to fool him into believing it. This seemed to manipulate Koscheck into picking Marc Stevens, as he may have believed he could take Johnson later. This allowed St-Pierre to choose Johnson with the second overall pick.[10]
Johnson competed in his preliminary round matchup against Aaron Wilkinson in the third episode. After some early striking exchanges in the first round, Wilkinson was able to take Johnson down and utilise ground-and-pound punches and elbows. In the second round, Johnson landed an early superman punch, as well as a takedown. After takedowns were achieved by both men, Johnson stuffed a final attempt and took the second round on the judges scorecards. In the sudden victory round, Johnson attacked quickly. He took Wilkinson down before he could react, and began landing heavy punches on him, then eventually secured his back, which allowed him to end the fight via a rear naked choke.[11]
Mike Tyson was in attendance, and later said Johnson's speed won the fight, though he felt Wilkinson was the better boxer. Josh Koscheck also claimed that the fight should not have gone to the third round, since he believes Wilkinson won the opening two.[11]
In episode 8, Team GSP had to pick which team members would fight each other (considering they had 5 members in the quarter-finals). St. Pierre asked each member to pick the fighter they wanted to fight. Johnson and Alex Caceres picked each other and a fight was scheduled.[12] Johnson won by unanimous decision after two rounds, earning himself a spot in the semi-finals.[13]
In the final round, Johnson faced the one remaining Team Koscheck member, Nam Phan. In a back-and-forth fight, Johnson scored takedowns. The consensus after the fight was that Johnson won the opening round, and Phan the second. The third was in dispute however, with each fighter's coach convinced they had won the round. Johnson was declared the winner via split decision.[14]
Ultimate Fighting Championships
Johnson made his UFC debut in the The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck Finale against Jonathan Brookins. That fight determined the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 12. After an impressive first round, Johnson lost rounds two and three — and subsequently the fight — via unanimous decision, leaving him the runner-up.[15] After the loss, Johnson moved his camp to Jackson's Submission Fighting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Johnson was looking to take a fight outside of the UFC before returning to the promotion. The fight was to headline the North American Fighting Championship card against Jim Bleau.[16] However, after obtaining a UFC fight, Johnson pulled out of the NAFC bout to focus his training on the UFC bout. Johnson faced Eddie Faaloloto on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4[17] and won the fight via TKO in the first round.
Johnson faced Paul Sass on October 1, 2011 at UFC on Versus 6.[18] He lost the fight via submission in the first round.
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown 15 matches 9 wins 6 losses By knockout 5 0 By submission 2 5 By decision 2 1 Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes Loss 9-6 Paul Sass Submission (heel hook) UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson October 1, 2011 1 3:00 Washington, D.C., United States Win 9-5 Eddie Faaloloto TKO (punches) UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry June 26, 2011 1 4:42 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States Loss 8-5 Jonathan Brookins Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck Finale December 4, 2010 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Lost The Ultimate Fighter 12 Win 8-4 Chris McDaniel TKO (punches) FM: Productions January 30, 2010 1 4:34 Springfield, Missouri, United States Win 7-4 Ramiro Hernandez Decision (unanimous) Titan Fighting Championship 15 December 18, 2009 3 5:00 Kansas City, Kansas, United States Catchweight (150 lbs) bout Win 6-4 Aaron Derrow TKO (punches) Xtreme Cage Fighter 10 October 3, 2009 1 0:43 Springfield, Missouri, United States For the XCF Lightweight title Loss 5-4 Eric Marriott Submission (heel hook) FM: Productions May 9, 2009 2 1:32 Springfield, Missouri, United States Win 5-3 Clay French Submission (kimura) Fuel Fight Club April 10, 2009 1 3:16 Lake Ozark, Missouri, United States Loss 4-3 Joe Brammer Submission (guillotine choke) Midwest Cage Championships 19 March 14, 2009 4 3:45 Des Moines, Iowa, United States Loss 4-2 James Krause Submission FM: Productions November 22, 2008 1 2:55 Springfield, Missouri, United States Win 4-1 Warren Stewart TKO (punches) FM: Productions September 13, 2008 1 2:37 Springfield, Missouri, United States Win 3-1 Lucas Gwaltney Decision (majority) Midwest Fight League July 25, 2008 3 5:00 Columbia, Missouri, United States Won Lightweight title Loss 2-1 Ted Worthington Submission (triangle choke) MCC 13: Contenders April 25, 2008 3 1:29 Urbandale, Iowa, United States Win 2-0 Steve Schneider Submission FM: Productions April 18, 2008 1 2:12 Springfield, Missouri, United States Win 1-0 Chauncey Prather TKO (punches) FM: Productions February 1, 2008 1 1:12 Springfield, Missouri, United States References
- ^ a b "Meet the cast for "The Ultimate Fighter 12," field includes 28 lightweights". mmajunkie.com. August 3, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20146/meet-the-cast-for-the-ultimate-fighter-12-field-includes-28-lightweights.mma.
- ^ a b c d "Meet the Ultimate Fighter 12 cast: Michael Johnson, a producer's worst nightmare". mmajunkie.com. September 22, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20756/meet-the-ultimate-fighter-12-cast-michael-johnson-a-producers-worst-nightmare.mma.
- ^ "Spike TV unveils TUF 12 cast". sherdog.com. August 3, 2010. http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/13/Spike-TV-Unveils-TUF-12-Cast-26089.
- ^ "TUF 12: Michael Johnson confirmed as a member of the lightweight tournament". mmabay.co.uk. July 27, 2010. http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2010/07/27/exclusive-tuf-12-%E2%80%93-michael-johnson-confirmed-as-a-member-of-the-lightweight-tournament/.
- ^ a b c d e "Michael Johnson". sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Michael-Johnson-68788. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- ^ "11 bout Pro Titan FC card finalised". sherdog.com. December 15, 2009. http://www.sherdog.com/news/pressreleases/11-BOUT-PRO-TITAN-FC-CARD-FINALIZED-21559.
- ^ "MCC 19 - Midwest Cage Championships 19". sherdog.com. March 14, 2009. http://www.sherdog.com/events/MCC-19-Midwest-Cage-Championships-19-9806.
- ^ "FM Productions". sherdog.com. November 22, 2008. http://www.sherdog.com/events/FM-Productions-9311.
- ^ "Episode no.1 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. September 16, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20660/episode-no-1-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma.
- ^ "Episode No. 2 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. September 22, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20738/episode-no-2-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma.
- ^ a b "Episode No. 3 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. September 29, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20841/episode-no-3-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma.
- ^ "Episode No. 8 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. November 4, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21262/episode-no-8-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma.
- ^ "Michael Johnson and Jonathan Brookins fight for TUF 12 crown on Saturday". mmajunkie.com. December 1, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21580/michael-johnson-and-jonathan-brookins-fight-for-tuf-12-crown-on-saturday.mma.
- ^ "Episode No. 11 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. December 1, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21554/episode-no-11-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma.
- ^ "The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale recap: Brookins earns impressive comeback win". mmajunkie.com. December 5, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21624/the-ultimate-fighter-12-finale-recap.mma.
- ^ http://uscombatsports.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=181&id=8581&Itemid=99
- ^ "Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto slated for UFC on Versus 4". mmajunkie.com. April 11, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/23197/michael-johnson-vs-edward-faaloloto-slated-for-ufc-on-versus-4.mma.
- ^ Furness, Jay (July 21, 2011). "Paul Sass To Return At UFC On Versus 6; Johnson Likely Adversary". yourmma.tv.com. http://www.yourmma.tv/news/details.asp/id/1647/paul-sass-to-return-at-ufc-on-versus-6.htm.
External links
Team GSP Jonathan Brookins · Alex Caceres · Michael Johnson · Cody McKenzie · Spencer Paige · Dane Sayers · Kyle Watson Head Coach: Georges St-Pierre Assistant Coaches: Phil Nurse · John Danaher · Sean Williams · Jean-Charles Skarbowsky · Firas Zahabi Team Koscheck Sako Chivitchian · Jeff Lentz · Sevak Magakian · Andy Main · Nam Phan · Marc Stevens · Aaron Wilkinson Head Coach: Josh Koscheck Assistant Coaches: Javier Mendez · Bob Cook · Dave Camarillo · Teddy Lucio · Daniel Cormier Eliminated in
the first roundJJ Ambrose · Paul Barrow · Jason Brenton · Mike Budnik · Joseph Duffy · Pablo Garza · Toby Grear · Daniel Head Amir Khillah · Steve Magdaleno · TJ O'Brien · Mike Richman · Ariel Sexton · Ran Weathers Categories:- American mixed martial artists
- Mixed martial artists from Missouri
- Lightweight mixed martial artists
- African-American mixed martial artists
- 1986 births
- Living people
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