Anthony "Rumble" Johnson: Reaching for the Stars

Anthony Johnson is born on Mar. 6, 1984 in Dublin, GA. He had his first professional fight in 2006 against Jonathan Romero. Johnson won the fight easily by first round TKO.

Johnson went on to fight two more times that year and earning two more victories, this time by decisions. Coming off three straight wins in 2006, The UFC invited Johnson to fight at UFC Fight Night 10 against Chad Reiner.

Anthony Johnson took 13 seconds to lay down Reiner with a brutal KO. He tried out for The Ultimate Fighter Season Six, where only Welterweight fighters were cast, but he wasn't chosen.

At UFC 76, he fought tough UFC veteran Rich Clementi. Johnson wasn't able to make weight and weighed in at 178 pounds. The fight ended up being a catch-weight fight that saw a crafty veteran choke out the newcomer. Although Johnson was the much bigger fighter, Clementi's ground game was too much to overcome.

Johnson hadn't been selected to fight on The Ultimate Fighter Six, but he was given a chance to fight the runner-up, Tommy Speer at UFC Fight Night 13. Anthony won the fight by another brutal KO taking only 51 seconds.

Johnson was then matched-up against BJJ fighter Kevin Burns. It was a close fight all along until Kevin Burns poked Anthony in the eye, sending him to the ground. Johnson was unable to continue and the fight was stopped. Burns won by TKO in the third round. A rematch was needed, and a rematch took place five months later.

Johnson looked a lot more sharp on his striking skills and KO Burns with a brutal head kick in the third round. In his last fight, Johnson fought a very tough fighter in Luigi Fioravanti. Anthony wasted no time and TKO'ed Luigi in the very first round.

To say that Anthony Johnson took the Welterweight division by storm would be an understatement. Although he still shows signs of inexperience, Anthony Johnson is a young fighter that is still improving. He is one of the biggest fighters in his weight class and one of it's hardest hitters too.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson is not yet ready for a fighter like Georges St-Pierre, but he has the skills to be one of the top Welterweight fighters in the UFC. maybe one day he will hold the title above his head.

One thing is for sure, we should all pay attention to the rise of "Rumble" for I think it will be a very interesting one.