Virgil Zwicker Is Unknown and Unfazed Against Lavar Johnson

Virgil Zwicker isn’t a household name in the MMA community. In fact, type his name into any search engine and you’ll find very little on him.

Zwicker knows this and plans to use this to his advantage against his opponent on Friday, Lavar Johnson.

Their fight will headline the Strikeforce Challengers series event being held at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California—a place that Johnson is familiar with and also comfortable in, having his last two fights in that exact area.

Fighting in Fresno for Johnson is like his second home, considering his hometown of Madera, California is only 25 miles southwest of Fresno.

The Native American out of the San Pasqual Indian Reservation in Valley Center knows all the pressure will be on Johnson fighting in front of all his friends and family. “He has a lot to lose fighting in his hometown. That pressure of fighting in front of all your fans and friends is pretty heavy,” explained Zwicker.

Zwicker isn’t fooling himself though and knows this will be a very tough fight against Johnson. “My goal is to go the distance and test myself against someone like him; I want to see how good I am through three tough rounds,” Zwicker explained. An odd thing to look for with how judging has been lately, but he feels if he dominates the fight, there will be no question in the judges' minds who won.

Both fighters are strikers and have the majority of their victories by way of knockout. Johnson has a good sprawl that keeps the fight in his comfort zone, but Zwicker has a self-described “unknown” ground game and will look to capitalize on anything. “It will be a battle on the feet, but if we go to the ground I’m going to take his back and choke him,” stated Zwicker.

Feeling blessed by this opportunity given to him by Strikeforce, Zwicker just wants to put on an exciting fight and show the organization that they got the right guy for the job.

For more articles from Joshua Wood, check out http://mmavalor.com/

Follow Joshua Wood on Twitter at @mmavalor