Anthony Kewoa Johnson^[1] (born March 6, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist. He is best known for fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Appeared in the movie Warrior (2011 film) as a fighter named Orlando "Midnight" Le.

Mixed martial arts career [edit]

Ultimate Fighting Championship [edit]

He made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 10, knocking out Chad Reiner just thirteen seconds into the first round. He had taken the fight on less than a weeks notice replacing an injured Steve Bruno who tore his rotator cuff. He was also seen in a previous video for The Ultimate Fighter trying out for season six, however for undisclosed reasons he was not on the show.

In his next bout, he was submitted by Rich Clementi. The fight saw Clementi execute a flawless gameplan of taunting Johnson, only to secure back mount and choke Johnson out. Regardless, Johnson regards this as a win. He bounced back with an impressive victory over Tom Speer.^[2]

Anthony's fight against Kevin Burns aired live on Spike TV on July 19, 2008, ended in a loss due to eye pokes, at 3:35 of the third round. Johnson could not continue after being poked in the eye multiple times. Many believe that Johnson should have won the fight via disqualification.^[3] earlier in the bout^[3] and possibly fouled in this fashion three other times.^[4] Johnson lost his appeal due to lack of remedy.^[3][5]

Johnson fought Kevin Burns again in a rematch on The Ultimate Fighter 8 finale.^[6] This time the outcome was different with Johnson winning the match by knocking Burns out via headkick.^[7] The knockout was awarded "Knockout of The Night" and a $25,000 bonus.^[8]

Johnson was scheduled to fight Matt Brown at the TUF 9 Finale, but had to pull out. Johnson fought Japanese Judoka Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104 where he won at 0:41 of the first round by KO. The fight became a catchweight bout of 176 when Johnson missed weight by six pounds. Johnson dwarfed Yoshida in the cage and won by knockout in the first round. Despite his knockout of Yoshida, Johnson was not eligible for the Knockout of the Night bonus due to coming in overweight. He also lost 20% of his purse.^[9]

Since he took virtually no damage during his fight with Yoshida, Johnson made a quick turnaround and faced Josh Koscheck on November 21, 2009, at UFC 106.^[10] Both Johnson and Koscheck were awarded Fight of the Night honors for the contest.

Johnson was expected to face John Howard on March 21, 2010 at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones,^[11] but had to pull out due to suffering a knee injury in training.^[12]

Because of the knee injury, Johnson considered a move to the middleweight division of the UFC.^[13] Johnson indicated on the June 4, 2010, episode of Inside MMA that he must typically lose 55 pounds to make 170. Despite this, Johnson said that although he may take a fight at 185, he does not plan to remain there and intends to stay at 170.

Johnson returned to the octagon in early 2011. He faced Dan Hardy on March 26, 2011 at UFC Fight Night 24.^[14] Johnson used superior wrestling and controlled Hardy to a unanimous decision victory but did drop him with a left head kick in the first round of the fight.

Johnson was expected to face Nate Marquardt in what would have been his first main event on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4 but was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Rick Story.^[15]

Johnson went on to face Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 6. He won the fight via first round TKO, earning Knockout of the Night honors.^[16]

For his next fight, Johnson attempted to move up to middleweight to face Vitor Belfort on January 14, 2012 at UFC 142.^[17] Leading up to the UFC 142 weigh-ins, doctors advised Johnson to terminate his weight cut and rehydrate. Johnson came in at 197 lb, 11 pounds over the middleweight division limit. The fight remained scheduled under the stipulation that Johnson would not weigh over 205 lb on fight day and would forfeit 20% of his purse to Belfort. On fight day, Johnson officially weighed in at 204.2 lb, and Belfort won via first round submission.^[18] Following the loss, Johnson was released from the promotion.^[19]

Titan Fighting Championships [edit]

After being released from the UFC, Johnson fought fellow UFC veteran David Branch at Titan Fighting Championships 22.^[20] On the day of the weigh ins for the fight, Johnson once again missed making the 186 lb limit for the middleweight division, as he weighed in at 194.2 lb, 8.2 lb overweight. Branch was notified the morning of the weight in that Johnson was not going to make weight, so as a result he weighed in at 189 lb. The bout was then agreed upon as a catchweight bout at 195 lb. This marked the fourth time in Johnson's professional career that he has weighed in over the assigned weight limit. Johnson won the fight via unanimous decision (30–27 on all cards).

Johnson made his light heavyweight debut at Titan Fighting Championships 24 against former King of the Cage Super Heavyweight Champion Esteves Jones, Johnson won via TKO in just 51 seconds of the second round.^[21]

Independent Promotions [edit]

Johnson fought Jake Rosholt at Xtreme Fight Night 9.^[22] Johnson won the fight by TKO due to a head kick in the second round.

World Series of Fighting [edit]

Johnson faced Bellator veteran D.J. Linderman at WSOF 1 on November 3, 2012.^[23] He won the fight via KO in the first round.

Anthony Johnson fought at heavyweight against Andrei Arlovski on March 23, 2013 at WSOF 2,^[24] and won by unanimous decision.

Championships and achievements [edit]

Amateur wrestling [edit]

• National Junior College Athletic Association
  • Junior College National Champion 174 lb – out of Lassen Community College (2004)^[25]

Mixed Martial Arts [edit]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Fight of the Night (One time)
  • Knockout of the Night (Two times)

Mixed martial arts record [edit]

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	15–4	Andrei Arlovski	Decision (unanimous)	World Series of Fighting 2	02013-03-23March 23, 2013	3	5:00	Atlantic City, New Jersey United States	Heavyweight bout.
Win	14–4	D.J. Linderman	KO (punch)	World Series of Fighting 1	02012-11-03November 3, 2012	1	3:58	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	WSOF Debut
Win	13–4	Jake Rosholt	TKO (head kick)	Xtreme Fight Night 9	02012-09-21September 21, 2012	2	4:22	Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Win	12–4	Esteves Jones	TKO (punches)	Titan Fighting Championships 24	02012-08-24August 24, 2012	2	0:51	Kansas City, Kansas, United States	Light Heavyweight debut.
Win	11–4	David Branch	Decision (unanimous)	Titan Fighting Championships 22	02012-05-25May 25, 2012	3	5:00	Kansas City, Kansas, United States	195 lb catchweight bout
Loss	10–4	Vitor Belfort	Submission (rear naked choke)	UFC 142	02012-01-14January 14, 2012	1	4:49	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	197lb catchweight bout
Win	10–3	Charlie Brenneman	TKO (head kick)	UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson	02011-10-01October 1, 2011	1	2:49	Washington, D.C., United States	Knockout of the Night.
Win	9–3	Dan Hardy	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis	02011-03-26March 26, 2011	3	5:00	Seattle, Washington, United States
Loss	8–3	Josh Koscheck	Submission (rear naked choke)	UFC 106	02009-11-21November 21, 2009	2	4:47	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Fight of the Night.
Win	8–2	Yoshiyuki Yoshida	KO (punch)	UFC 104	02009-10-24October 24, 2009	1	0:41	Los Angeles, California, United States	176 lb Catchweight
Win	7–2	Luigi Fioravanti	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs. Stephens	02009-02-07February 7, 2009	1	4:39	Tampa, Florida, United States
Win	6–2	Kevin Burns	KO (head kick)	The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir Finale	02008-12-13December 13, 2008	3	0:28	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Knockout of the Night.
Loss	5–2	Kevin Burns	TKO (eye poke)	UFC: Silva vs Irvin	02008-07-19July 19, 2008	3	3:35	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Johnson was poked in the eye. Could not continue.
Win	5–1	Tom Speer	KO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Lauzon	02008-04-02April 2, 2008	1	0:51	Broomfield, Colorado, United States
Loss	4–1	Rich Clementi	Submission (rear naked choke)	UFC 76	02007-09-22September 22, 2007	2	3:05	Anaheim, California, United States	177 lb Catchweight; Johnson missed 170 lb. limit.
Win	4–0	Chad Reiner	KO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Stout vs Fisher	02007-06-12June 12, 2007	1	0:13	Hollywood, Florida, United States
Win	3–0	Keith Wilson	Decision (majority)	Rocky Mountain Nationals: Demolition	02006-09-16September 16, 2006	2	5:00	Denver, Colorado, United States	Won Rocky Mountain Nationals tournament
Win	2–0	Rich Moskowitz	Decision (unanimous)	Rocky Mountain Nationals: Demolition	02006-09-16September 16, 2006	2	5:00	Denver, Colorado, United States
Win	1–0	Jonathan Romero	TKO (punches)	PF 2: Live MMA	02006-08-16August 16, 2006	1	1:09	Hollywood, California, United States

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Professional MMA record for Anthony Johnson from Sherdog
• UFC Profile
• Chat session with Anthony Johnson on 7/23/2008
• Anthony Johnson's profile at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame