Issue 144
August 2016
Boasting the heaviest hands in the UFC, when Anthony Johnson connects the lights go out
There is a tangible reason why Anthony Johnson is recognized as the hardest puncher in the UFC – he’s got the record to prove it. Of his 21 career wins, 15 have been knockouts, while 11 of those have come in the opening round. Plus, he holds a UFC record of four sub-one minute knockouts, proving he truly has got one-punch KO power. But don’t only take our word for it, here’s a collection of opinions from other industry insiders and stars on the power and potential of the man we’ve dubbed Deadshot.
Daniel Cormier is the only light heavyweight so far to have survived Rumble’s power, submitting Johnson when the vacated UFC belt was up for grabs in May 2015. But he had to pick himself up off the canvas in the opening round to do it. A knockdown DC admits he won’t be forgetting in a hurry. “Anthony Johnson’s power is amazing,” he says. “It feels like somebody hit you with a baseball bat... When he puts his hands on people, they get knocked out.”
Blackzilians strength and conditioning coach Jake Bonacci, formerly with Xtreme Couture, believes Johnson is more than just a power athlete too. “I’ve worked with hundreds of fighters and athletes during my career, but as far as fighters go, he’s the best athlete I’ve ever worked with,” Bonacci says. “If he’d chosen to play in the NFL, he could’ve. He’s an absolute freak.”
UFC analyst Joe Rogan describes Johnson as a “monster” and admits Johnson vs. Jon Jones would be his “number one fight of all time” – and it’s not even happened, yet. Whilst he believes Jones to be the greatest 205lb’er ever, Rogan says Rumble’s power is an equalizer for anybody. “I don’t know what the f**k is gonna happen when Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson puts mitts on you. I don’t know who’s going to be able to withstand that... When you look at him as a light heavyweight, the way he f**king destroyed (Antonio Rogerio) Nogueira, I was just like, ‘Jesus!’”
Ahead of a scheduled match-up with Rumble last year, divisional record-holder Jon Jones admitted: “Johnson has much more striking power than I do, that’s pretty obvious... Rampage (Jackson) said I couldn’t bust a grape. And I think that’s true.”
The Mauler’ also agrees. “Oh yeah, he hits harder than Jones,” says Alexander Gustafsson, who had his own title fight return ruined when Rumble knocked him out in the first round in Stockholm last year. “Rumble, when he connects, you feel it. You have to respect that kind of power. When he comes with the pressure, he has really good pressure. He’s just really dangerous as a light heavyweight.”
And long before he made 205lb, Johnson was just as dangerous at 170lb. Brit Dan Hardy was one of the very few to go the distance with Rumble at welterweight back in 2010, and he states that his “supernatural power” has always needed to be respected. “Anthony Johnson, especially in the first round, is a very scary dude. Perhaps the scariest dude in the UFC today. When he punches you it hurts! Just walking to the cage to face him is intimidating enough, and he was much smaller then. Today he’s a colossus.”
Yet he has, and could again, grow even bigger. Blackzilians head coach Jorge Santiago insists Rumble is only getting better. “He’s still growing and that he’s going to continue to grow even more and I really feel that he’s going to become the UFC champion. We’re going to work really hard, even harder than we have already to get better. He has a lot of talent.”
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Knockout machine
Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson has a record eight knockouts in his 10 career UFC wins, ensuring he is one of the most dangerous one-strike finishers ever to step foot inside the Octagon.
