Michael Johnson News

Adam Martin - April 29, 2020

Veteran UFC lightweight Michael Johnson is among the new fighters who have been added to the upcoming cards on May 13 and May 16 in Jacksonville, Florida. Two weeks ago, UFC president Dana White revealed the promotion’s plan to go ahead with three cards on May 9, 13, and 16 in Jacksonville. The UFC has been trying for weeks to get its show back on the road despite the coronavirus pandemic, and very soon the Octagon will touch down in sunny Florida. Since the cards were announced, a number of new fights have been trickling out in the media, and now we have some more for both cards.

Natasha Hooper - April 16, 2020

Today marks the birthday of one of the UFC’s most celebrated fighters, Nate Diaz. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 35-year old is no doubt having a quiet celebration in lockdown. To honor the ‘Stockton slapper’, we have compiled his top five fights to celebrate his birthday in ultimate BJPenn.com style! Donald Cerrone The UFC veterans collided in the co-main event of UFC 141 in 2011. The fighters vented their frustration in an all-out war, but the bad blood started long before they entered the Octagon. Diaz previously slapped his opponent’s hand when Cerrone attempted to introduce himself. He also knocked the “Cowboy’s” hat off his head during a press conference.

Natasha Hooper - February 20, 2020

Once a fighter, always a fighter. That statement rings true for lightweight veteran Evan Dunham, who will be returning from his short-lived retirement to fight Michael Johnson. In 2018, Dunham announced his retirement plans following his UFC Sao Paulo bout against Francisco Trinaldo. He shared the news on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019

On Saturday night, on the main card of UFC Philadelphia, former lightweight contender Michael Johnson partook in his latest featherweight bout, taking on the dangerous Josh Emmett. Unfortunately for Johnson and his fans, this fight did not go as planned, as he found himself on the receiving end of a 2019 Knockout of the Year contender late in the third round.

Tom Taylor - November 13, 2018

There are not a lot of featherweights out there who are openly calling for a fight with dangerous Russian contender Zabit Magomedsharipov. Michael Johnson, however, is all for the matchup.

Christopher Taylor - October 28, 2018

Michael Johnson defeated Artem Lobov in the co-headliner of last night’s UFC Fight Night 138 event in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. “The Menace” was able to utilize his lightning-quick jab to outpoint “The Russian Hammer” for the better part of fifteen minutes.

Christopher Taylor - October 28, 2018

A featherweight bout featuring Michael Johnson taking on Artem Lobov co-headlined last night’s UFC Fight Night 138 event in Moncton, Canada. “The Menace” served as a short-notice replacement for the fight, this after Lobov’s originally scheduled opponent Zubaira Tukhugov was pulled from the fight card due to his involvement in UFC 229‘s now infamous post-fight brawl.

Chris Taylor - October 27, 2018

In the co-headliner of tonight’s UFC Moncton event, featherweights Artem Lobov and Michael Johnson collided in hopes of moving up the 145-pound ranks. “The Russian Hammer” was initially slated to face Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammate Zubaira Tukhugov (18-4 MMA) at UFC Moncton. However, the promotion pulled Tukhugov off of the fight card shortly following the Russians involvement in UFC 229’s now infamous post fight brawl.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

Originally, Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov was supposed to battle Khabib Nurmagomedov training partner Zubaira Tukhugov in the co-main event of tomorrow night’s UFC Moncton card. After Tukhugov got involved in the infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl, however, he was pulled from his fight with Lobov. From there, the UFC began a frantic search to find a short-notice replacement opponent for Artem Lobov. They ultimately landed on former lightweight contender Michael Johnson, who recently picked up a close decision win over Andre Fili in his second featherweight fight.

Chris Taylor - October 14, 2018

UFC featherweight Artem Lobov (13-14-1 MMA) will still be fighting later this month at UFC Fight Night 138 event in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. According to a report from “The Mac Life“, Artem Lobov will now be fighting veteran Michael Johnson at the October 27 event.

Chris Taylor - August 25, 2018

A featherweight bout between promotional veterans Michael Johnson and Andre Fili served as the co-headliner of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 135 event in Lincoln, Nebraska. Michael Johnson will enter the Fili bout on a three fight losing streak. “The Menace” has suffered setbacks to current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Darren Elkins and Justin Gaethje in that time.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

On January 14, the UFC will return to St. Louis, Missouri, with a Fight Night card that seems to possess all the elements of a Card of the Year contender. One of the most compelling features of this card is the featherweight debut of long-time lightweight contender Michael Johnson. The St. Louis native will make his debut in the division opposite surging contender Darren “The Damage” Elkins on the event’s undercard. While Johnson is unsurprisingly very excited about a fresh start in the UFC featherweight division, he’s not thrilled about his position on the card. As one of the most consistently exciting fighters out there, and a St. Louis native, he believes he has claim to the main or at least co-main event spot.

Tom Taylor - November 9, 2017

Earlier this year, we learned that long-time UFC lightweight contender Michael Johnson planned to drop down to the stacked UFC featherweight division. In the wake of this news, Johnson publicly derided his new featherweight peers, as he had an extremely difficult time finding a willing dance partner for his divisional debut. “What can I say lad I’m bessed” (face) lol nah this is my reaction to my first featherweight choices getting booked! “Ain’t no thang, who wants it?” #teammenace #whowantsin #faces #reaction #weighins #sowhat #featherweight #lightweight #fights #ufc#boxing

Tom Taylor - October 2, 2017

Last month, long-time UFC lightweight contender Michael Johnson announced his intention to drop to the 145-pound featherweight division, where he hoped to find a fresh start. After sharing this news, Johnson began angling for a fight with former UFC featherweight champion and bona fide MMA great Jose Aldo. Unfortunately for him, Aldo was then linked to a potential rematch with Ricardo Lamas.

Justin Golightly - September 28, 2017

At the beginning of the month, UFC lightweight contender Michael Johnson dropped a bombshell that he wanted to debut in the featherweight division against none other than Jose Aldo. What comes as a surprise to us, this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision for Johnson. Turns out he was thinking about the move down the whole time. Former champ Aldo has a fight with Ricardo Lamas in the works, but that isn’t dissuading Johnson to set his eye on a serious challenge at featherweight. Now, Johnson says he wants to scrap with 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. 

Justin Golightly - September 6, 2017

Back on Friday, Michael Johnson told fans and media at the UFC Rotterdam Q & A that he was going to move to featherweight. If that news wasn’t unexpected enough, he told everyone that the first fight he wants for his debut at the weight was none other than Jose Aldo. He’s opened up more about the move since then and it turns out it was always his plan. Not only that, but this move and potential fight could possibly come before the end of this year. “I was looking toward December, and November got brought up, so we’ll have to see. We’ll have to see everybody’s schedules and see where they can fit me in. [If I can’t fight Jose Aldo, I want] the next toughest guy in line. I think that’s maybe detrimental to my career, maybe hurts it a little bit that I always go for the toughest fight. But my first fight at 145, Aldo is a former champ, he’s one of the best in the world – always been. So, that’s one guy that I would love to fight. I’m not in this sport to fight the guy that’s OK. I want the toughest guy. I want everybody that says he can’t be beat.”

bjpenndotcom - July 19, 2017

Last month, veteran UFC referee Mario Yamasaki caught heat for a rather controversial stoppage he made during the UFC Fight Night 112 main event scrap between Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee. With Chiesa trapped in a rear naked choke with no escape in sight, ‘The Maverick’ stopped hand fighting the choke, and momentarily appeared to go limp, at which point Yamasaki promptly stopped the fight. Immediately, Chiesa popped up to protest the stoppage, however the fight was already over. The stoppage was an extremely controversial one in the eyes of many because despite Chiesa momentarily stopping his hand fighting, he never verbally, or physically, tapped out.

Tom Taylor - July 10, 2017

On Friday night, in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter season 25 finale, former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje made his UFC debut against the UFC’s fifth-ranked lightweight Michael Johnson. It was a war for the ages that saw Johnson control the early moments, and Gaethje ultimately surge back to score a TKO victory in the second. Early on Monday morning, Johnson took to Instagram to speak up for the first time since this action-packed loss. From the sounds of it, the dynamic lightweight is in good spirits, despite coming up short in this wild fight.