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Bloody Elbow

UFC 142 Results: Anthony Johnson Cut Following Loss To Vitor Belfort

A picture truly does say 1,000 words. 

Photo via Josh Hedges of the UFC

A picture truly does say 1,000 words. Photo via Josh Hedges of the UFC

Anthony Johnson has had a bad week. During his final weight cut on Friday, he was forced to stop after the UFC doctor stepped in and forced him to rehydrate because Johnson was unable to move his legs. At the weigh ins it was announced that his opponent Vitor Belfort agreed to the fight as long as 'Rumble' was able to weigh in on Saturday at 205 pounds. When Johnson stepped on the scales he came in 11 pounds over the middleweight limit, people were shocked. When he 'apologized' for it, people were appalled.

To say that the fight with Vitor Belfort didn't go as planned would be an understatement. Johnson completed two of five takedown attempts and was unable to do much damage on the ground. He didn't fare much better on the feet being out struck by a seven to one margin and landing only five strikes. When he tapped to the rear naked choke, it was assumed that he'd be released.

The UFC sent out a quick quote following the fight where Johnson had this to say about his performance:

A loss is a loss. My legs just got really tired. I didn't get beat up in there and he really didn't hurt me with what he hit me with. I just got tired. I've got to figure this thing out.

He'll have to figure it out on the regional scene as UFC President Dana White is planning on giving Anthony Johnson his walking papers following the performance. After initially saying "he'd probably cut Johnson", Dana decided to make things official after having some time to mull it over. MMA Junkie has the story:

That was one of the most unprofessional things I've ever seen. The guy was at 170 pounds. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn't happen anymore, and this is the worst weightcutting disaster he's ever had. He almost ruined the co-main event here in Brazil. I don't know what else to say about that one. I'm not happy about it.

...

I don't know who you blame in this one. Do you blame him? Do you blame his team? Do you blame his camp? I mean who takes the blame in this one? Ultimately, you're a grown man. You're responsible for your own actions.

After that performance I can't blame Dana. Anthony Johnson attempted to come into the fight as big as possible in order to bully Belfort. It backfired on him and he'll need to reevaluate his strategy and training camps going forward. Hopefully he can get back to the UFC after putting together a string of wins on the regional scene.

SBN coverage of UFC RIO 142: Aldo vs. Mendes

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Comments

Good riddance and learn some jits while you’re at it.

The thing is that Rumble is still pretty young with some upside, so I can see him back in the UFC maybe within this year with a couple of wins in the regional scene. I just hope he gets this weight thing in order.

either

Use the dolce diet or move to light heavyweight I think those are his two options

I’m curious about the Dolce diet, myself. I’m wondering exactly how it works. Is there a review out there of his books or anything?

Don’t know. But he did help Alves get over his weightcutting problems

I’m considering buying his book and giving it a try. I get the odd feeling all my time and spending money is going to go into finding organic food though.

There's no real secret to the Dolce Diet

It pretty much consists of eating good healthy whole foods, avoiding processed foods and curbing your sugar intake. Do that with regular exercise and that pretty much is the nuts and bolts of it.

Cutting weight for a fight is where Dolce really shines. He’s very knowledgable in this field and gets great results.

Save your money.

It’s pretty much a version of the Paleo diet with plenty of Broscience thrown in.

I have Living Lean and 3 Weeks to Shredded

I’ve contemplated writing a fan post as a review on here. I’ve been and still am unsure if that’s OK with Bloody Elbow. What KatanaClothing is saying is pretty close but it goes into more details and has shopping lists and recipes.

If there is interest in it being reviewed I have them both and am willing to do it.

Word.

He will make 30lb cuts on some unfortunate fools in lesser shows, make weight there, then come back to the UFC and miss weight where it really matters.

I’m quite glad he was cut. Sends a clear message to other guys (not that anyone misses consistently other than Thiago) and I’m convinced Rumble has been gaming the fuck out of a flawed system.

Having to give up 20% of win/win is still way more than a losing purse. The fine needs to be much heftier imo, like 75%.

Yeah

And what Vitor got from that was like pocket change to what he was already getting.

I hope he can get his weight issues in order.

He can come back and be a pretty solid fighter.

Until then, bon voyage

You say he didn't do much damage,

but wasn’t Belfort’s right eye closed at the end of the fight? I was wondering about that myself, was it an elbow or a punch that did the swelling?

Johnson jumped into Belfort’s guard with a punch, that’s where the bruised eye comes from. It was his only significant strike.

I wasn’t implying Johnson played the worldbeater before being submitted.. I just thought Belfort’s eye looked pretty bad. That’s why I asked what caused the swelling.

I wasn’t implying that you were implying, and didn’t want to sound like a smart ass.

You didn’t. I was trying to comment to all of the three other comments, but for some reason I posted it below yours only.

He was mashing Vitor up.

He landed a few big strikes on the ground and had Vitor backing up the whole time.

Which just makes it all the more awesome he was able to weather the storm and get the finish.

he landed 5 strikes

wouldnt call that mashing him up

5 strikes. Vitor was landing while “backing up the whole time.”

Is there anyone that can beat him outside of the UFC? Rockhold maybe?

And dang Matt, you’ve been posting like a madman the past 24 hours.

A few challenges:

Nate the Great
Falcao
Lombard
Rockhold
Mousasi
Fedor (lol)

Is there a point to naming people still under the Zuffa umbrella?

Let him fight Fedor at HW. I don’t know why he keeps trying to cut weight to classes he doesn’t belong in.

Yeah...I can blame Dana. Easily.

Wait, hear me out.

Dana knew Johnson was not physically well following his weightcut disaster, and still allowed the fight to take place. Dude was fucked up. He should’ve been cut following his massive fail and not after the fight, win or lose.

If you are gonna give fighters just the slight chance of keeping their jobs in the event that they win spectacularly even if they fail to make weight, you only test your luck with tragedy down the road.

Forgot: Because it incentivizes people who have failed to push themselves extra hard with the brittle health that they have left.
Very good point

never even thought of if that way.

Health issues like Diverticulitis or injury is one thing

Johnson here being sick or dehydrated, is due to the weight cut in all probability. At that weight range, cutting 15-20 is tough, but Rumble cut way more. That was his strategy and his body locked up on him and your immune system takes a hit. Again, this was a byproduct of Johnson’s weight and not cutting the right way.

I agree. It was AJs fault for not making weight, but Dana didn’t want the co-main to blow up and lose a ton of money. So instead he lets the fight continue, takes the cash and then cuts the guy. Business business business.

And in Business the sentiment is "Don't fuck around."

AJ be fuckin around son.

^^There ya go right there!
Simple as that, make the fucking weight, do what you are contracted to do, act like a professional and then You wont go to BAMMA.

Read the rest of the Junkie article. White said he made the decision the other day, not last night. He obviously let the fight go on because it was a co-main, he had nothing else to replace it, and he knew a Vitor win would jazz the crowd. And if you don’t think he knew Vitor was going to win, you’re kidding yourself.

I think we all know a guy getting beat up while physically emaciated is not good for his health and that tragedy can ensue, which is not good for the sport either.

I don’t need to go to Junkie and read Dana’s motivations b/c they don’t matter. He was still in the wrong, and if you can’t see that then, well, that’s on you, pal.

I suggested you read it so you can see that White stated he had already made the decision at the weigh in. Johnson had no chance of keeping his job, regardless whether he won or lost last night.

Well, Dana White is an even worse liar then b/c he publicly stated that Anthony Johnson was "fighting for his job, win or lose."

What is Johnson supposed to think? He clearly didn’t dhow up to get trucked.

Business is business—I get it—and it’s freaking dumb.

I agree. White is never going to be accused of being overly honest. He says he tells it like it is, but he really tells it in whatever way makes the most business sense. If Johnson believed he had a chance to keep his job by fighting hard, he got played. It’s hard to fault Dana for keeping the decision to himself, though, because the alternative would have meant losing even more fan interest from a card that wasn’t selling outside Brazil.

Yeah, Fight Sport is a pretty tough pill to swallow some times.
Anyone think the ref stood them up so often to give Vitor an advantage?

As in – someone had a word with him before the fight?

Doubt it. Johnson just didn't look like he was doing much on the ground either.

But there’s no commission in Brazil so you can get behind the conspiracy theory of your choice.

Maybe not so much to give Vitor an advantage but to make sure Rumble had no chance to rest when he was gassing. I have no idea how Tan Dan historically treats fighters who go to the ground and don’t make progress offensively, but I’ve already said elsewhere that the guy was pulling the trigger on the standups in an awfully quick fashion.

So yeah, either he was told to do that or he had the same sense of outrage about Rumble’s missing weight for the fight that just about every fan had and he decided to take it upon himself to get him to work harder than Rumble wanted to.

or maybe the conspiracy theories need to go away because maybe he just felt he wasnt doing enough to let it keep going on the ground
Agreed

At first I thought they were quick, but then I realized that Johnson had no intention of doing anything to even exert energy on top.

Laying in someone's guard without trying to advance your position or do damage gets you stood up.

unless you’re that asshole ref in the Woodley/Mein fight last week.
it took me a while to realize he was the same guy that worked the Bennet/Garner M1 heavyweight stinker.

i thought the last stand up was ridiculously quick and

made me think that something was up. It was clear Johnson was going to rest on top of him, but that stand up was after like 10 seconds. I’ve never seen a quicker one in any fight. I’ve never seen a ref break up a clench so fast. It was bullshit…. in that it only happened to Rumble. In truth, I wish they split them up more often – especially when a guys plan is just to push someone up against the cage and lay there.

The second stand up was 30 seconds of him sitting in guard. The first stand up was a bit over 20.

I still dont understand what exactly event or action you are blamming Dana for.
He provided Rumble an opportunity to fight after he was cleared by a doctor. As succintly as possible what did dana do that we should find disturbing?

Naw.

Anthony had a job to do. Parts of his job he didn’t do:

1. Make Weight, as EVERY other fighter on the card had no problem doing, as everyone had several months to make weight.

2. Show up ready to fight. “I don’t know man my legs… My legs just felt bad.” Okay AJ. Why is that I wonder?

Dana was completely in the right to axe him. He isn’t banned for life or anything, he will be back most likely.

No ones fault but AJ’s, blaming Dana is asinine.

I say I CAN blame Dana, not that Johnson had no part in his own demise.

Call me asinine if you want, but you are looking at a very narrow picture, here.

I'm not calling you asinine.

But the concept of blaming Dana for AJ not being in the UFC any more is man.

This isn’t a one-time thing we are talking about here, AJ has a reputation as a guy that intentionally cuts massive weight so he will never, ever be the smaller man.

To some, that alone speaks of weak character, especially in a world where fighters like BJ Penn, Fedor, Anderson, and Hendo also reside.

So that’s a part of your game AJ, fine, whatever. But when you can’t even borderline cheat properly? You can’t even show up and use your “Game Exploit” properly because what?

See,? No reason is good enough, not after the 3rd time.

You’re acting like Dana is the mean old man making poor old Anthony fight and make weight when no one else has to, or he got called up on short notice and was somehow put in a position that the other fighters were not.

Anthony Johnson has become the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and at this point you really think people are going to give a fuck what he has to say? Dana especially?

The world certainly isn’t fair, but what happened here sure is.

I am acting like Dana is the man making up a stupid incentive for Boys Who Cry Wolf like Anthony. I am being very clear, here. And so was Dana when he said that “win or lose he was fighting for his job,” just like he fought for his job once before against Yoshida at ww and got to keep it.

AJ deserved to get fucking fired just after he got ordered to take fluids after his botched cut attempt.

You are mischaracterizing my statements.

He deserved to get cut then.

He deserved to get cut even more after shitting the bed with Vitor in a co-main event.

I'm not disagreeing with you there. Never have.

I dunno why you keep acting like I did.

We disagree that Dana is somehow responsible for AJ losing his job.

Or it was somehow unfair that he got cut only after he fought and not when he missed weight.

Did Dana use him? Sure. Did he deserve it? Fuck yes.

Also

UFC middle weight is quite shallow at the moment and now with Marquardt and Johnson out it’s even more shallow. I mean, how many fights are there in the middle weight that really matter and that people would really want to see?

I’ve never been drunk on the Rumble punch. I’ve always pictured him as a guy with limited skill on the feet, decent wrestling, no BJJ and making up for his deficiencies by trying to be way bigger then his opponent. Call me a hater I guess.

I think that about makes you part of his fans, by now. I mean, have you seen what other people are sayig about him?

He’s very athletic as well. You can’t discredit that.

yeah

so athletic he gassed in 5 minutes

explosive and athletic. but he gassed like a motherfucker and was content to do nothing in Belfort’s guard.

He should try to get in that Proelite heavyweight tournament. things might get interesting

Why

Did Johnson come out like a whirlwind given his weight trouble? Stupid. Possibly thought he only had 1 good round in him before he gassed and tried to overwhelm Vitor?

Probably because he was facing a guy known to come out super aggressive, and he wanted to keep him on his heels. Often times when guys try to start conservatively in an effort to supplement poor cardio they get wrecked (Frank Mir).

So he had a great, fast win on a serious dude.

Probably the only way to keep his job.

But damn, he looked sloppy.

See ya!

Hitchhiker: 7’s the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 dwarves. 7, man, that’s the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin’ on a branch, eatin’ lots of sunflowers on my uncle’s ranch. You know that old children’s tale from the sea. It’s like you’re dreamin’ about Gorgonzola cheese when it’s clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.
Ted: Why?
Hitchhiker: ‘Cause you’re fuckin’ fired!

Something About Mary reference!
AJ

He should have been doing 7-Minute Abs

He lloked like he did.

He should’ve strayed off Burger King and Gold’s Gym instead.

Strikeforce?

I took it that cut from the UFC meant cut from Zuffa. Do you think that he could be signed by Strikeforce as if they were an entirely seperate entity?

Kinda sucks

to cut him after the fight, especially considering he had health issues when cutting weight. I’m sure he also cut weight saturday and that’s why he had no stamina.

He had health issues cutting

Because he added size to move up to 185 rather than just boil down from his usual weight when he was fighting at 170.

Entirely his own fault.

If he had been given the choice, I’m confident he would have fought then been cut rather than go home without fighting and no payday. If someone makes a career out of cutting an unhealthy amount of weight, its unlikely he would go home with no job and no fight money because it was a risk to his health

Rumble vs. Arlovski at ProElite!
I got Arlovski by AJ no-showing due to failed weight cut.
Rumble deserved to be cut

He fought like he didn’t give a shit and paid the price for it.

I think he can be a beast outside of the UFC but I’ve given up on him as being a top title contender inside the UFC.

He deserved to get cut b/c he failed to make weight for a third time and already fighting for his job once before against Yoshiyuki Yoshida.

needs to get on the Dolce diet!!!!!

Rumble needs to fight at 205 or cut some muscle.

you can’t carry all that muscle and expect to cut weight 30 or 40 lbs at a time. He is a freak athlete when he is conditioned, but he won’t be conditioned in middleweight if he is walking around like he is a NFL linebacker

His body is not the problem ,his mind is.

tell that to his faltering legs and the UFC doctors

He made the choice of being as big as possible, not his legs.
He’s not disciplined (or stupid, because it’s not the first time).

On a somewhat related note

How is that Imperial MMA/Blackzilian team doing since it started up?

I mean record wise, how are fighters coming out of there doing in the win to loss department.

I know Michael Johnson lost, Anthony Johnson just lost, pretty sure Jorge Santiago was fighting out of there and he lost….seems like Rashad is about the only dude that has won anything.

Anyone mind giving me a detailed answer?

Of all the higher profile fighters, I believe Rashad, Cosmo Alexandre, and JZ Cavalcante are the only ones coming off wins. Aside from who you named, Bigfoot got flattened by Cormier, Guillard lost to Lauzon, and Danillo Villefort lost to Nate James.

oh yeah.

Jorge Santiago even got cut.

bigfoot is with Black House now, I believe
Guys don't need to train with one team exclusively

I think besides Rashad, only Michael Johnson kinda was successful with one win. But then he got submitted by Paul Sass. So no idea what they are doing down there.

Dear Bellator

Please sign Rumble to fight Lombard immediately.

Thanks.

damn. that’s some cold shit right there.

Dana White again says stupid things

He says it’s the most unprofessional thing ever….DUH. If Rumble came in trying to see how much he could cut for the first time at a higher weight, then it seems like just a plan gone bad…and not anything unprofessional. He thinks this is worse than Bisping spitting on people? THAT’S an example of UNPROFESSIONALISM!

What??

Really? A guy moves up a weight class and still misses weight and you want to shrug it off?

Jeopardizing a fight with title implications in the co-main event

And failing to make weight for a 3rd time is unprofessional.

Professionals fulfill their contractual obligations. Johnson did not. Johnson is unprofessional.

And saying he had never cut at that weight isn’t an excuse. He knew how much he had to weigh, it is his professional responsibility to ensure he is at a weight where he can make that happen.

So you're saying

Its okay to miss weight at a new weight as a test? BWAHAHAHAHA. No.

If you want to see how much you can cut

You do a test cut before your camp, then spar the next day and see if you have any energy left. You don’t do it when you’re booked in the co-main of a PPV, and you don’t sign for a fight if there’s any doubt that you can make the contracted weight.

I dont think Rumble will be cut entirely from Zuffa

He would make a good challenge to Luke Rockhold, they need a contender other than Tim Kennedy, Rumble will fit in nicely.. well thats if he makes weight.

The dude looked like a monster 205’er, he really should start taking care of his weight cuts.. poor team instruction if you ask me, what makes it even worse is that he’s a wrestler and he should have the basics of discipline engraved in his brains

The problem is that for title fights you need to be on weight. Correct me if i’m wrong but doesn’t the 1lb pound over rule get thrown out the window in title fights? Zuffa is not going to spend money marketing a title fight with Rockhold, only for Rumble to show up overweight and ruin the entire card. Bad bad bad business move.

strategy is a choice

I get that in MMA, size is an attribute or even a skill, and the ability to cut weight to be larger than your opponent, is an incredible asset. When he fought Brenneman, Johnson looked like a big 185 guy while Brenneman looked like he belonged at 155. That was part of Johnson’s strategy and game plan and he prepped for it.

Here though, Johnson was inferior in skill to his opponent and used size to compensate. He got sick, but when you cut that kind of weight, your immune system and body take a hit. Cutting 15-20 lbs at that size is tough enough on the body, Rumble was cutting way more and getting dehydrated, was his own fault. Committing to make weight, with months of notice, isn’t that difficult, I used to have to make weight many times a week and so did Rumble as a wrestler, everyone else on the card made weight like they committed to do, being a wrestler, he knows how to do this, so this really is a lack of discipline on his part and incredibly unprofessional.

Missing by one or two pounds is one thing, it is unprofessional but with travel or scale issues, it can happen now and again (though he has a history of it). Here he got too big and couldn’t make weight, he was rightfully cut. Coming in 11 lbs over weight is a slap in the face to your opponent, the promoter, and everyone else invested in his fight. He should have to show at least 3-4 fights where he makes weight flawlessly at a given weight class before he is given a shot in SF or the UFC.

AJ will be back if he smashes some people up in other promotions

but the ufc will keep a close eye on him and maybe push him to 205

Get out

Get this clown out of here. I’m glad he was cut so we don’t have to hear his bs excuses again. This was his 14th fight, “get it right”? If you haven’t by now you are hopeless.

rumble vs jacare please?

Am I the only person that thinks he should cut out the middle steps

and just start fighting HW now, before he misses more weights and gets cut again

Problem is

Without a size advantage he is pretty average imo

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