Anthony Johnson: I Worked My A** Off To Get Where I Am
Light-heavyweight knockout artist Anthony Johnson will get a chance to apply his trade again at UFC 187, in the hopes of claiming title glory against Daniel Cormier. The pairing was made official when Jon Jones went bat shit crazy and got embroiled in yet more controversy.
With the troubled ex-champ sidelined for the near future, or possibly forever, either Cormier or Johnson will succeed one of the greatest fighters of all time, though neither will have beaten him for his belt. While talking to MMAFighting.com, “Rumble” discussed his opponent Cormier and former booking “Bones”:
“Nah, it doesn’t bother me. (Cormier)Â can think what he wants. I’m going to still be who I am. I’m nowhere close to the fighter I used to be. A lot of people still think that I am that same fighter that fought at 170, but I’m a different kind of animal right now. Everybody can think and say whatever they want. I know who I am, and we’ll see. Personally, I don’t care what he thinks, he’s entitled to his own opinion. I just have to focus on me and do me.”
Johnson was a troubled welterweight back in the day, frequently missing weight and displaying both scary power, but also inexperience as an athlete. Now more at home at his natural weight, “Rumble” is cruising unbeaten in nine fights. He continues:
“Yeah, everybody wants to be the guy to beat the guy, know what I mean? I was disappointed, know what I mean? Because I worked so hard to fight the best and I can’t fight the champion, so now I’m focused on the next best in Daniel Cormier.”
“Yeah, I will feel I’m the champion if I beat him. I worked my ass off to get where I am. It’s not my fault, not anybody’s fault with what happened with Jon. Jon did that to himself, everybody knows that. But, life goes on and you got to keep it moving, But when he comes back, if I still have the title and it’s time to fight him, I’ll fight him. One day we will fight.”
Say what you like, but Anthony Johnson’s results speak for themselves. His decimation of Alexander Gustafsson was a huge upset, and paved the way to his eventual, and well deserved tile opportunity. The question is, will he be able to keep pace with a cardio machine like DC?
May 23rd approaches rapidly, who are you picking ahead of the stacked UFC 187 fight card?
