Anthony Johnson's dynamic UFC 104 victory over Yoshiyuki Yoshida cemented what many insiders and hardcore fans of mixed martial arts already knew: Johnson is a fast-rising star in the UFC's welterweight division.
The charismatic knockout artist has a knack for finishing his opponents in electric fashion, a trait that will serve him well in the entertainer-friendly confines of the UFC.
I met with Johnson at the Wilshire Grand just hours before he would step in the cage with Yoshida. He looked markedly improved from the day before, and was fully recuperated from a grueling weight cut that left him nearly unable to walk without assistance.
He stepped into the cage that night and utterly destroyed the overmatched Yoshida in under one minute.
But Johnson's victory wasn't without cost. An injury suffered while preparing for a bout with Matt Brown hampered Johnson's ability to train correctly, and he swelled up to 220 pounds, nearly 50 pounds over the welterweight limit. Many large light heavyweights cut from the same weight.
Johnson soldiered on. While preparing for the Yoshida bout, Johnson's agent referred him to a personal trainer friend. The trainer suggested that Johnson try a new method of weight cutting, one that relied less on shedding water weight. Johnson stopped eating in the week leading up to the bout and increased his water intake.
The new method didn't work.
"I was 192 on Monday, and I should have been less than 185 on Wednesday. That's where I usually am, and that's an easy cut," Johnson told me on Saturday morning. "The trainer told me to drink a lot of water and to not eat very much, and that's what I did.
"On Thursday, I did a three-hour workout and dropped from 198 to 183. But then I drank all the water he wanted me to drink for the day, and I went back up to 198."
With Johnson 27 pounds over the welterweight limit on the day before he was scheduled to weigh-in, the cutting efforts went into overtime. Johnson stepped into the sauna on Friday morning in an attempt to shed water weight the traditional way.
He spent an hour in the sauna and lost four pounds, giving him confidence that he'd be able to make the limit. But when he stepped out of the sauna for a break, the worst happened: he stopped sweating.
"I got out of the sauna, and I think I was out too long because my sweating stopped," said Johnson. "When I got back in the sauna I couldn't get anything else off. That's what broke me."
Johnson's energy reserves were depleted, and he knew that with hours to go and many pounds left to lose, there would be no way for him to make weight.
His camp contacted the California State Athletic Commission and Yoshida's camp, and a deal was struck: Johnson could miss the weight limit, but the fight would go on.
In exchange for staying in the fight, however, Yoshida would receive 10 percent of Johnson's contracted purse. Another 10 percent would go to the CSAC.
Johnson weighed in at 176lbs, five pounds over the limit. It was a dramatic miss for a fighter who hadn't missed weight in over two years and someone considered to be a rising star in the welterweight division.
Johnson did just that on Saturday night against Yoshida. But the missed weight didn't just embarrass Johnson...it also cost him the Knockout of the Night, an extra $60,000 bonus that would have been added to his purse.
That kind of money is crucial for a fighter like Johnson, a prospect on the rise who hasn't quite gotten to the point where he's making plenty of money.
A move to the middleweight division would seem to be the logical next step. Johnson is a huge man. Standing next to him, it's impossible to believe that he ever gets down to 170 pounds. Johnson isn't prepared for the move, however. "I will eventually move to middleweight, but right now I like 170," said Johnson.
Johnson is adamant that the events of last weekend won't happen again.
"I just don't take pride in what happened yesterday. Even if I win, I don't know what kind of emotions I'll have," says Johnson with a shrug. "I've gone through a lot of emotions already. I've got a lot of stuff built up on the inside and hopefully I can let it all out in the cage."
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