Michael Johnson reacts to insane ‘Fight of the Night’ against Justin Gaethje at TUF 25 Finale

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight contender Michael Johnson, currently ranked No. 5 in the divison, welcomed World Series of Fighting (WSOF) import Justin Gaethje to the Octagon last Friday night on FOX Sports 1.

And it was one of the best fights of the year.

Despite coming up short, Johnson was gracious in defeat and paid his respect to Gaethje for scoring the technical knockout win in the second stanza (highlights), while also promising to come back better than ever.

From Instagram:

Thank you my team everyone for the support and congrats to @justin_gaethje that fight will be hard to top by anyone in this division!# #warrior regardless of what was said we stood in toe to toe and did what very few can do! #respect I was hurt but never out of it!! I will be back smarter than ever. No matter what I FIGHT the best and toughest guys in the world! Very few can say that aswell. We're still smiling looking at the end result and not loving this process STILL! #fightoftheyear#teammj #teammenace

Gaethje improves to 18-0 while Johnson falls to 17-12.

No question “The Menace” will be pushed out of the top five when the new rankings are released later this week; however, his performance on the big stage will undoubtedly keep him at the top of the list when it comes to matchmaking.

Who would you like to see Johnson fight next?