Anthony Johnson is arguably the most terrifying knockout artist in the UFC.
“Rumble” is tied for the second most knockouts in the world’s largest MMA promotion. He’s level with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva with 10 KOs, just one behind former light heavyweight king Vitor Belfort.
He takes on champion Daniel Cormier in a title-fight rematch in UFC 210’s headliner. Johnson dropped DC with a vicious right haymaker in the first round the first time they threw down at UFC 187. Cormier somehow managed to recover and utilise his wrestling prowess to nullify his stand-up, grind him down and submit him with a rear-naked choke in the first round.
If that power-punch had landed just a couple of centimetres either side, Johnson may very well have had that coveted golden strap wrapped around his waist.
Since suffering his first loss at 205 lbs, Johnson has gone on the tear in the division. He’s racked up three-straight knockouts, with each one coming earlier than the last.
He followed up his five minute and 28 second finish of Jimi Manuwa by putting away Ryan Bader in 86 seconds.
In his last trip to the Octagon, he scored a legitimately terrifying 13-second tooth-loosener against Glover Teixeira on the undercard of UFC 202, headlined by the highly-anticipated welterweight do-over between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
It was this stunning finish that earned him another crack at Cormier.
Speaking on the most recent episode of the MMA Hour, Johnson vowed to deliver an“ass-whoopin'” on Cormier in the sequel. When asked to give an estimated time-of-arrival for that coup de grace, AJ admitted he couldn’t predict when it was coming, but the quicker the better.
“You never know with me (laughs). Sometimes I let fights go a little longer than expected. Sometimes I get ’em over quick. So, we’ll see.”
Some fighters despise quick finishes because they go through an entire grueling camp of training and end up being deprived of a competitive fight. Johnson is not one of those fighters, although his reason for preferring to get the job done early may take some people by surprise.
“Everyone prefers early, everybody prefers early. Plus my Grandma… oh my God! Plus my Grandma won’t be near as nervous. You know what I mean? We just have to see what happens. I still have to face the champ, so it’s not going be an easy path.”
There you have it folks, Rumble is murking fools in lightning quick fashion for the sake of his grandmother. Who’d have thunk it?
