Anthony Johnson was tired of hearing about his "boring" fight at UFC 117 against Dan Hardy. To silence the critics, he nearly put his left foot through Charlie Brenneman's face.
There was one problem, Brenneman's head is apparently made of granite. The Johnson boot connected right to the middle of "The Spaniard's" face, he went down, but then looked like he was fine. Referee Mrio Yamasaki immediately waved off the fight at 2:49 of the first round. It didn't appear that Yamasaki got a good look at Brenneman's condition. Brenneman looked up in shock, but it was too late, Johnson had the win.
"I'm very happy. I mean everybody was talking crap about my last performance against Dan Hardy," Johnson told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "I figured I had to come here and make a statement."
The stoppage from Yamasaki was somewhat understandable. Brenneman ate another good head kick just 15 seconds earlier and also hit the floor on a good punch. Before he got drilled with the final kick, he was staggering badly against the cage.
Johnson (10-3, 7-3 UFC) has been on the verge of big things for years, but weight issues and a lack of focus on becoming well-rounded has held him back from breaking into the top 10 at 170 pounds. The 6-foot-1 Johnson switched training camps this year, moving to south Florida to join Imperial Athletics. That camp is anchored by fighters like Rashad Evans and an off shoot of Brazilian fighters and trainers from American Top Team.
The switch paid immediate dividends. A much more humble and focused Johnson was on display tonight.
"Like I told Charlie, he was first guy to ever really have me nervous because his wrestling is so good. I respect him and his camp so much. [...] The man is a beast," said Johnson.
Brenneman (14-3, 3-2 UFC) was coming off the biggest win of his career, an upset of Rick Story at UFC on Versus 5 in June.
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