Michael Johnson: Becoming The Menace
Since becoming a finalist on Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Johnson has made a name for himself in the UFC Octagon by becoming a ruthless finisher with nasty instincts.
He's the only man to defeat Tony Ferguson inside the eight-walled battle chamber, and he also holds victories over lightweight standouts Edson Barboza and Dustin Poirier, among others.
Recently, however, Johnson's hit a rough patch in his career, losing four of his last five. While those defeats have come against elite competition -- Nate Diaz, Beneil Dariush, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Justin Gaethje -- the streak prompted Johnson to make a change. He'll drop down to the featherweight class for his next outing, and he feels that will make all the difference.
"The Menace" caught up with FloCombat during the FloCombat Road Trip 2 from Hard Knocks 365 fight gym, dishing on his career journey, his decision to make the cut to 145, and much more.
On MMA Journey
"Man, the journey's been wild. It's been so crazy, so many ups and down. And then the thing's been eating at me and myself, like, 'Do I really want to do this? Do I really want to keep doing this?' It's just so many guessing games, but I love it. There's no other way. I go back and I look at other options, and I'm like, 'Why? Why look at other options? This is what I do. I'm a fighter. I'm here to fight. I'm here to put on great shows for the fans and entertain people.' That's what I'm striving to do. And getting that title's always a plus."
Evolving Into Complete Mixed Martial Artist
"It's been great, man, but it's been a struggle as well. I've had to definitely change my style up a bit, and working with Henri Hooft has been great. We got Greg Jones in here, so everything is just meshing well together. I got away from my wrestling and I focused a lot on striking and stand-up. I got that down pat, [so] now it's bringing my wrestling back and making this complete fighter that I need to be. I've always said this thing to myself, it's like, I don't want to be great at one thing. I need to be good at everything. I need to be able to wrestle and strike and do jiu-jitsu, and to me, that's being a complete fighter and the best in the world."
Dropping To Featherweight
"It's always been in the back of the head of mine to drop down to featherweight, you know? I really wanted to establish myself in the lightweight division, get as close to a title, if I could've won the title, and then drop. But now it seems like, you know, with the division, how fights are going, it's going to be a little pause or a break to get to the title. So I thought I'd just go to '45, man.
I've fought everybody at '55. I want to fight some new faces. I want to get some new looks. And I want a challenge. Me getting down to that weight is going to be a challenge, and I think that's going to be great for my career.
Difference Between Featherweight And Lightweight
"I fought these guys that are, they're probably out-weighing me by 20 pounds when I get in that cage. I don't get up that much after I weigh in. So it's going to be incredible, and I think it's going to really help me when I get around guys and I just start moving them better. And I don't think they'll be able to take my punches as easily."
Facing Cub Swanson?
"I think me and Cub (Swanson) would be a great fight. I wanted (Jose) Aldo first, but it looks like him and Ricardo (Lamas) are going to fight, and man, I mean, Cub would be the next great option. I've gotten into this business with one thing on my mind, and that's to fight the best guys in the division, to fight whoever's the champ, whoever's beaten everybody. Those are the guys I want to fight, so a fight with Cub, you know, that's right up my alley. "He's a friend of mine but it's all business and I want to test myself. And he's one that will test me."
Open To Dec. 30 Scrap In Las Vegas
"Man, December 30's right up my alley. It's a great card. It's another card in Vegas. I need to redeem myself after my last trip to Vegas, so that's perfect for me, man. I just got back into training, and I'm hitting it hard. I'm going to be ready for anything that comes up."
Becoming 'The Menace'
"It's hard. It's really hard. It's a challenge to go into a place that I really don't want to go to at all. But I have to, because the reality is we're going into a cage and either one of us could lose our lives at any point in that fight. The fighters have to understand that, so you have to put yourself in a place where, it sounds bad, but I'm not trying to take this man's life, but I'm trying not to get my life taken, so I gotta go to that place.
"And coming back from it, I think that's fairly easy, because we have a decompression time. It takes a little bit, but you get out of that mindset pretty quickly."
Analyzing MMA Landscape Today
"This sport's bigger than Jon Jones. This sport's bigger than Conor McGregor. Even though he's the biggest thing right now, it's so much bigger. There are so many more fighters that have put in blood, sweat, and tears for years and have given these fans exactly what they wanted, and these fighters don't need to be forgotten about. We still keep the UFC running very well, and we keep fans in the seats.
"I definitely think that's important, so if I would ask anything from the fans, don't forget about the other fighters in this world, because we're in here dedicating ourselves to this sport, and we appreciate the support."
Current Career Goals
I'm in this for the title. So we're looking for a title run at '55 or '45. Looking at a title run, get the title, and who knows, I might go back up and hold two around my waist.
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