After a blistering, first-round knockout win over Dustin Poirier at UFC Fight Night 94, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 12 grad Michael Johnson had a chance to insert himself into the short list of lightweight title contenders.
All he needed was a win over the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 205.
Instead, “The Menace” was taken down and chopped up into little pieces, courtesy of “The Eagle’s” talons, but it may have been a blessing in disguise as Johnson gears up for his rebound fight.
“I’ve been grappling a lot this camp,” Johnson told Bloody Elbow. “Khabib really opened my eyes. I need to work on stuff that’s going to stop me from getting that title and right now that is my grappling.”
The No. 5-ranked Johnson (17-11) is training under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champions Gilbert and Herbert Burns.
Whether or not his grappling becomes a factor in his upcoming fight against Justin Gaethje remains to be seen. They’ll headline TUF 25 Finale this Friday night (July 7, 2017) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on FOX Sports 1.
For a closer look at that showdown click here.