UFC 142: Does an Anthony Johnson Win Mean Anything Anymore?

Anthony Johnson recently got a lot of publicity when he failed to reach the middleweight limit, and overshot by more than 11 pounds.

Anthony Johnson and his camp have explained that Johnson happened to get sick before he could cut the last few pounds, and a UFC doctor ordered him to drink fluids shortly before the weigh-in, which is why he weighed in at 197 pounds.

Dana White says that Johnson became ill when he tried to cut weight and couldn't get below 187.5 pounds before getting dangerously sick from dehydration.

He says the sickness was a result of poor weight-cutting discipline, and Johnson was irresponsible.

Regardless of the nature of Johnson's sickness, which is the reason for his missing weight by so much, the fight is now a light heavyweight battle, with Johnson having weighed in at 204 pounds this morning.

In effect, rather than moving from welterweight to middleweight, he is taking part in a makeshift light heavyweight fight.

If he wins, it will not be nearly as meaningful as winning if he made weight and fought a middleweight fight.

He has a huge size advantage over his opponent and his performance may not reflect how he'd perform if he had successfully made the weight cut.

Still, a win for Johnson could still have some meaning.

It would look bad for Johnson if he won using wrestling and control on the ground, given that he has an illegitimate advantage from having missed weight and being much heavier than his opponent.

A win like that, given the circumstances, would mean nothing, and might actual serve to significantly decrease Johnson's popularity.

But if Anthony Johnson out-strikes Vitor Belfort or pulls off a crazy submission finish, he will still get a good deal of hype from the victory, and would move up in the middleweight rankings.

Provided Dana White and the UFC find Johnson's reasons for missing weight acceptable, and Johnson wins dominantly, his rise to the top of the middleweight rankings will not be significantly halted.