Anthony Johnson, Overhyped and Out of UFC on Versus Matchup With John Howard

Hell yeah he’s overhyped… He’s full of potential because he’s much bigger than most of his opponents and he’s got some serious knockout power… But Yoshida is a bottom 15 Welterweight fighter… Johson hasn’t proven he’s even top 20 yet…

OK, first off, Johnson is only 8-3 and still has a long way to go. He is highly touted for what he could become at 170, NOT for what he is. 2nd off, he didn’t make weight for the Yoshida fight because of a knee injury that caused him to come into camp too heavy. THE SAME KNEE that he is pulling out of this fight for, I’m sure. 3rd. When he fought Rich Clementi, that was his 5th fight ever, against a guy who was 28-12, who was a well above average fighter. They BOTH took that fight on like 3 weeks notice, so it’s not like Rumble had time to train for this guy who was more experienced. Mind you, he weighed in at 169, so that tells you he can make weight when motivated even on short notice. Rich weighed in at like 165 or so and still won, so don’t give me this BS about Rumbles size advantage on Yoshida. The dude got beat by a 155er who gained FAT just to fight him. Why did he lose? Because No Love was better. Period. Yoshida would’ve gotten knocked out regardless of the 5 pounds, based on his movements, the result would’ve been the same. If BJ Penn fought him and Rumble had a 5 pound advantage in the weigh in, that wouldn’t stop BJ from destroying him, why? Because he’s better.

@jay

You’re wrong. The Clementi-Johnson fight was the other one Johnson came into over 175 pounds. He weighed 177.5 pounds for a fight booked at welterweight, which is just ridiculous. And, you didn’t read the article, or you just don’t understand. The article states specifically that it wasn’t the weight advantage that’s significant when Johnson misses weight – which he does 25% of the time in the UFC – but the advantage of not having to endure starvation and dehydration up until a day before fighting like his opponent.

But, the point of the article is that the hype is superficial based on Johnson’s physique, not his accomplishment. It’s the same reason Cheick Kongo remains in the UFC when he’s obviously not UFC caliber. Basically, he just looks intimidating. But, Johnson has one significant win in the UFC and it was in a fight he wasn’t held to the same rules his opponent was – he wasn’t forced to starve and dehydrate himself before the fight. That’s all the article says. Johnson is overhyped.

@Chad Edward

Dude I saw the Clementi fight LIVE. He was given 3 weeks notice and stepped up, as did No Love, neither were penalized since he came in underweight too. This BS about him not having to endure all that crap to make weight is the dumbest argument point in this whole exchange.
Johnson was on record for passing out before the Yoshida fight, even though he missed weight. Johnson also passed out for the Koscheck fight. The dude does starve and dehydrate himself. To the point where it is looking dangerous for him to still fight at 170. People were making a big deal out of it for health reasons, that’s all. I don’t see anyone telling Thiago Alves to move up and he misses weight all the time. Rumble and Kongo are not the same. Kongo is a successful k1 guy. Rumble is a converted wrestler. Kongo is undersized in most of his fights no matter how big his chest is, just like Kimbo. Rumble is actually bigger than everyone except for Alves. If he fought at 185 now, he’d be gone in no time, but he’s not. He fights at 170, he can strike, and if he is able to make that weight at 170, he has a punchers chance to beat anyone. Even it it’s a fluke.

Who isn’t over hyped except for BJ Penn , GSP and Silva? Seriously. No point in even mentioning that. I don’t see the UFC marketing anything around Rumble and I haven’t heard Dana White crown him. After knocking out guys the way he did, he was found to fight a Koscheck guy, that’s just how it works. That’s exactly why Dan Hardy is getting his chance.

@Jay

Clementi weighed 169 pounds for the fight versus Johnson. 171 pounds is the welterweight limit, not mandatory weight. There is no penalty for coming in underweight.

But the dumbest argument point is you arguing at all. You seem like you agree that all the hype he’s got over the last year has been without merit. You just want to quibble about how much preparation he had before getting choked out by Celementi.

You’re right. He’s got a puncher’s chance at 170 pounds, but fans and commentators have been acting like he’s the future of the division. That’s all the article says. He’s overhyped.

@Chad Edward

I must be confusing the fight I saw where he weighed in at 169.I’m man enough to admit that. The main point is, this article is random, and has no merit whatsoever. He was scheduled to fight John Howard, not GSP or BJ Penn. It just seems like this was going to be written as soon as his name was in the headlines, and the writer was just waiting for the chance, win/lose draw/ or injury. The dude hasn’t fought since November, this is February. NO ONE has mentioned his name. John Howard is nowhere near the level of Koscheck, Rumble isn’t even ranked top 25 anymore, yet you people still hate on him at any opportunity. Makes no sense whatsoever. The fact is, Rumble couldn’t beat Rich Clementi at the time regardless. The fact is, Koscheck already killed most of the hype, and people like YOU who enjoy beating dead horses simply enjoy blogging about it. The only reason I can think of for Rumble to stop fighting at 170 is so he doesn’t lose his life.

@Jay

OK, so I’m right. You agree that Johnson has been overhyped. You just don’t like that I’m saying it now. That’s fair.

@Chad Edward

NO, you are NOT right. If Rumble is so over hyped, then why is he facing a relative nobody?Stop hating.

Lastly, everyone knew he couldn’t fight off his back, he is a standup guy. The KOs speak for themselves. That is why guys like him, Jason Lambert,Drew Mcfedreis, and Houston Alexander continue to get chances. Houston Alexander was never overrated. EVER. He beat guys that were way better than him because of his knockout power. Just like Mcfedreis and Lambert. Everyone knew what they were good at. Rumble said he doesn’t train off his back plenty of times, an I wouldn’t expect him to training with Cung Le. Rumble can knock GSP out and you know it. GSP would beat him hands down, but Rumble has the power to do it if he doesn’t get taken down. So let me ask you a question, how can you OVER HYPE god given size and knockout power. How can you over hype the only thing you are good at? Yeah um, you’re wrong.

@Jay

Evidently not everyone knew he was just an intimidating-looking striker. He got a matchup versus the seventh-ranked welterweight in the world. That’s the overhype. He should’ve never been in that fight, but there was a lot of hype around him after the Yoshida KO in which he was five pounds over the welterweight limit. Much more hype than he had actually earned in fights. That’s it.

Didn’t you read why he took the fight? First off, Yoshida was ranked at the time when he beat him, so he is only going to move up in competition. 2ndly if you even remember, that was a quick replacement fight to make up for Lesnar Carwin. Rumble lost the knockout of the night because White was mad at him and was offered the fight on short notice to make up for it while they were scrambling to find replacements. White was extremely pissed. Rumble essentially had no choice, not that he wouldn’t have taken it anyway. Why not give the young exciting knockout guy a chance? Give the fans SOMETHING, make them want to buy PPV. This wasn’t even the 1st, 2nd or 3rd choice. Koscheck wasn’t supposed to fight til January. They had no one else. Kudos to Koscheck for stepping up after just fighting and fighting a guy who doesn’t effect his rankings if he wins, only if he loses. Knowing Dana White, Rumble might not be in the UFC after not taking that fight. If you don’t think he would cut Rumble, look at Karo, Thales Leites, and even War Machine.

In the end, you were only right in the fact that it’s your opinion.

@Jay

First off….Yoshida was ranked at welterweight, but the Yoshida-Johnson fight wasn’t in the welterweight division. It was at a catchweight because Johnson couldn’t make the welterweight limit. So, the knockout shouldn’t have really affected the welterweight rankings because it wasn’t a welterweight fight. It didn’t affect Fighters.com’s welterweight rankings, just like Thiago Alves’s knockout of Matt Hughes when Alves couldn’t make weight didn’t affect his ranking.

And, who said Johnson should’ve turned down the Koshcheck fight? That’s nuts! If you get some hype for whatever reason, you should ride it as long as you can. That’s not my point. My point is that the hype that he rode into the Koscheck matchup – a matchup put together at the last moment because White knew Johnson had a bunch of hype (as a promoter, he doesn’t care whether it’s earned or not) – was premature for a guy whose only significant win came in a fight he couldn’t make weight for, who misses weight 25% of the time in the UFC, and whose record is made-up mostly of mediocre and below competition at the UFC level. That’s it.

You are shooting yourself in the foot right now. Rumble did the right thing taking the Koscheck fight right? Everyone else was scheduled. So if he was the last resort, and had buzz for winning in dramatic fashion, how does that make him over hyped? He was a last resort who was already on the rocks with White. Dana White has him back on fight night again, and never spoke much about him. He was only trying to sell a fight. If he did the right thing by taking the Koscheck fight, how is he overrated for doing it?

After beating all those guys he did, like 3-4 in a row, he was going to have to move up in level of competition eventually. I don’t care if he missed weight, he beat Yoshida. I put money on it that if a bigger name was available, Johnsons ”hype” would still be as big as it was.

@Jay

You’re just arguing with yourself now. I never said Johnson was overhyped for taking the Koscheck fight. You invented that in your responses to the article. His being overhyped has nothing to do with him really. The hype came from fans and commentators on the sport who were focused on his physique and one significant win in a fight he couldn’t make weight for instead of his record in the Octagon, which is kind of mediocre. Re-read the article. That’s what it says. My point about his loss to Koscheck was that it showed how far the hype around Johnson was from his actual place in the division. I think you just like to argue, which is fine. That’s why we let readers comment.

I just like to argue? You think so? We already agreed that this article came out of nowhere, and is just beating a dead horse, you continue to reply saying that you are right, and I’m the one trying to argue.

@Jay

And you agree Johnson is pretty mediocre, which was the point of the article and why I don’t understand what you’re arguing about.

@Chad Edward

I don’t think Johnson is mediocre, I think based off of size and strength at 170, he’s above average. Even if he may be terrible at 185. He’s a match up problem. I don’t think he is over hyped. KOs speak for themselves, and if he was overhyped, it was to sell tickets for a messed up card .I think he can be a contender at 170. THAT’S what I think.

The timing was so random that you only come off as a hater.

@Jay

Then we do disagree and I am right. You think because of his physique he’s a contender at welterweight. I mean, that’s exactly what I described as the misconception. No one he’s knocked out at welterweight remains in the UFC except Kevin Burns and he’s on a three-fight losing streak. When matched versus a legit contender at welterweight, he was choked out without too much problem. So, when he starts putting together some consistency among the top 25 or so of the welterweight division – guys like Chris Lytle, Mike Swick, Marcus Davis, Ben Saunders, John Hathaway, etc., then we can talk contender about Johnson. Until then, you’re overhyping him if you call him a 170-pound contender.