It’s hard to believe a monster like Anthony Johnson, who is no stranger to beating former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champions, could ever make the welterweight limit.
Even more surprising is just how effective he was, once he did.
“Rumble” was working his way up the 170-pound ranks back in 2008, getting paired off against streaking submission artist Kevin Burns in the process. Their first go-round at UFC Fight Night 14 ended in a controversial technical knockout loss due to an eye injury (see it), forcing the promotion to rebook them for a later date.
The results speak for themselves.
Johnson planished Burns with a violent head kick at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 8 Finale, which you can watch in the embedded video above, but eventually abandoned the 170-pound weight class in favor of a more natural division.
The fact that he’s in line for another title fight, this time in the UFC 210 pay-per-view (PPV) main event in Buffalo, New York, should tell you everything you need to know about how well that transition paid off.
Not that his opponent sounds worried...
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