Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:05 pm EST
Anthony Johnson has the gift of gab. He can trash talk with the best of them but he doesn't come across as a jerk. Even better he doesn't mind on the receiving end of criticism. The 25-year-old welterweight was skewered by fans and media at UFC 104 last month when he missed weight by six pounds. Johnson went on to destroy Yoshiyuki Yoshida in the fight with a 41 second knockout but knew enough to step up in the cage to apologize for not fulfilling all his job duties.
"I didn't have to apologize. I chose to apologize. The fans desevred it. The UFC deserved it," Johnson told Cagewriter.
Aside from not being able to fully enjoy a big win, Johnson also lost a chance at a $60,000 bonus for Knockout of the Night.
"I didn't deserve it. I didn't make the weight."
Pat Barry was beneficiary of Johnson's mistake. The heavyweight got the KO of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses. It turned out Barry desperately needed the 120k. He had zero money in his pocket the week of the fight and was weeks away from being evicted from his apartment.
"He deserved it more than I did because I heard his story, and I was just like ' take it dude.' My hat goes off to Pat Barry. I'm glad that he got that bonus. Me? I'll get bonuses some other time. When the time is right, I'll get a bonus. He needed it so the time was right for him."
Now Johnson isn't Mr. Nice Guy all the time especially when it comes time to step into the Octagon. Johnson (8-2, 5-2 UFC) has been given a huge opportunity to take out a top five UFC welterweight in Josh Koscheck. That could mean a quick shot at the UFC 170-pound champion Georges St. Pierre. This is one of those classic style matchups. Koscheck, a great collegiate wrestler, could probably get Johnson to the ground and grind out a decision win but he also likes striking. No one has been able to strike with Johnson in his seven UFC fights. He's got four first round knockouts and is huge for the weight class.
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Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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24 Comments
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I would be just fine if Rumble KO's Kos in the 1st round. But I would kind of like to see Rumble get taken to the ground by Kos to see how Rumble handles it.
All this talk of putting Rumble against GSP is premature. 1st. Dan Hardy is fighting GSP next. Yeah, GSP should win. 2nd. GSP is THE master of the takedown. So we need to see what Rumble has on the ground before we throw him in with GSP. Yeah, always a possibility of a KO standing...but GSP won't keep it standing. He learned his lesson from Matt Serra. The second fight wasn't even close.
I don't see anyone beating GSP outside of an odds beating punch. If he moves up and fights Silva...well, I think it is not a fair fight. The spider is a lot bigger..but still would not count GSP out. That is another fight that if GSP gets it to the ground, which he will, than he will probably win. But the spider might keep GSP from getting there.
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i dont think we will see pac man play in the nfl again
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Anthony wins KO 1rst round 2 minutes.
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he couldn't do cardio of any kind until the knee was good so he put on a few extra pounds and in the end it hurt him.... anyone who's played a sport be it in college, high school or whatever knows that when you get injured and can't train like you normally would that unless you radically change your diet, you're going to put on extra weight....
trust me, this guy will not move up any time soon....
i hope its a good fight this saturday- Koscheck will problably try to stand and trade but i wouldn't be surprised if he changes course and tries to grind out a win.... which when you think about it is what GSP is going to do if he matches up with Johnson
either way its a good test for both.... and i'd love to see Johnson and Brown finally have a go at it.....
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