Anthony Johnson needs a top 10 opponent

and his name is Matt Hughes. Although i wouldn't blame Hughes if he didn't want this big of a fight at this point in his career. IMO Hughes doesn't have a chance in hell of beating Rumble.

Anthony Johnson needs to worry about making weight. I get real tired of guys like him and Alves not even coming close. It's not as if the fight snuck up on him... It's not as if he took it on 4 days notice...

As far as Hughes goes... He can beat any of these strikers if he can get them to the ground before they land the bomb. Would I favor him at this point?... Maybe not. But it's ridiculous to imply that he doesn't have a chance.

LikesToFightGuy wrote:

Anthony Johnson needs to worry about making weight. I get real tired of guys like him and Alves not even coming close. It's not as if the fight snuck up on him... It's not as if he took it on 4 days notice...

As far as Hughes goes... He can beat any of these strikers if he can get them to the ground before they land the bomb. Would I favor him at this point?... Maybe not. But it's ridiculous to imply that he doesn't have a chance.

As far as i know he's never missed weight before and said the only reason is because he had a leg injury from when he pulled out of the Matt Brown fight. When he cant train they said he gets up to 220 pounds! I cant blame him for missing as long as it doesn't happen again.

And if the UFC is smart and they make this fight then i will AV bet you if you really think Hughes will win. I'll even put my signature on the line and guarantee a ko.

and FYI anthony johnson doesn't fall under the category of "just another striker", there is no doubt he has the most power in the WW division and he also happens to be a junior college national wrestling champion so i dont even see Hughes being able to take him down. And let's not even talk about the size and reach advantage here.

oggy420 wrote:

LikesToFightGuy wrote:

Anthony Johnson needs to worry about making weight. I get real tired of guys like him and Alves not even coming close. It's not as if the fight snuck up on him... It's not as if he took it on 4 days notice...

As far as Hughes goes... He can beat any of these strikers if he can get them to the ground before they land the bomb. Would I favor him at this point?... Maybe not. But it's ridiculous to imply that he doesn't have a chance.

As far as i know he's never missed weight before and said the only reason is because he had a leg injury from when he pulled out of the Matt Brown fight. When he cant train they said he gets up to 220 pounds! I cant blame him for missing as long as it doesn't happen again.

And if the UFC is smart and they make this fight then i will AV bet you if you really think Hughes will win. I'll even put my signature on the line and guarantee a ko.

I agree on him never missing before, but there's never an excuse. If he's really that heavy he needs to fight at 185... Hell, he looked 205 Saturday! As far as the AV bet goes... We'll see if the fight ever happens. I didn't say that Hughes would win... I said it's ridiculous to imply he doesn't have a chance. But I would be tempted to talk AV if that fight ever happens especially if you are guaranteeing a KO...

i thought he has missed before?

Yeah I heard Johnson was so dehydrated before the weigh ins that his team had to carry him in and he almost fell walking up the stairs to the scale and almost fell again walking back down the stairs from the scale.

Scary shit man, if he's struggling that much to make weight he needs to just fight at MW.

As far as Hughes? He won't want that fight. I'd love to see Anthony fight any top WW or MW right now. Kos would be a good fight as would Fitch or Alves.

He needs to fight at Middleweight. He's going to end up there for sure so he might as well start now.

He'll never miss weight again, I'll bet. He'll get a top ten opponent and title talk so from here on out I'll bet he's more serious.

Hughes would rip this dude's arm off come on.

oggy420 wrote:

and FYI anthony johnson doesn't fall under the category of "just another striker", there is no doubt he has the most power in the WW division and he also happens to be a junior college national wrestling champion so i dont even see Hughes being able to take him down. And let's not even talk about the size and reach advantage here.

Hughes wrestling credentials far out way Johnsons. There is huge difference from being a champion in JUCO than their is being a 2 time all american in Division I.

Then you factor in Hughes has 10+ years of MMA wrestling vs some very good grapplers (Serra, GSP, Penn, Alvez, Lytle, Sherk, Newton, and the list goes on) while I'm not so sure Johnson has done much wrestling in the UFC.

A fifty pound cut will always be sketchy come weight in. If he can get over saturday's slip and stay consistent in that drop he could do big things.

185

Who gives a fuck about Hughes and his wrestling ability...that fight wouldn't last long enough for Hughes to get it to the ground. Johnson is so much faster than Hughes, it wouldn't be Matt Serra striking here.

Fuck that, he needs weight watchers

He cuts from 225!!!!

55 pound cut!!!

He needs to move up to 185.

That is just ridiculous.

As for Hughes....he'd be in big trouble striking. I think he'd have to get it to the ground. Maybe even sub him. Anyone know about Johnson's sub defense? Didn't think so.

He got subbed by Rich Clementi.

Agreed Farmer... Like I told Oggy yesterday, Hughes would have to get it to the ground to have a shot. But to think Hughes has no shot in that fight is ridiculous. And Oggy trying to compare wrestling ability between the two is kind of funny... I think the kid had a bit much to smoke yesterday. I think Matt would struggle to get it to the ground because of AJ's size, length and strength... Matt would have to know he's going to eat a few and risk getting KO'd in the process. But I think once he got it to the ground, he would be able to impose his will and work for a submission or GnP to victory. It would be a very risky fight for him, but certainly not one that he can't win.

Exactly ^

Some of my friends after watching this fight, say that rumble should be taking on GSP. Does anyone but me think that he is no where near ready to fight GSP, or im i just being biased as GSP is my fav fighter. I just think GSP schools him all fight long

EliteAcidBurn wrote:

Some of my friends after watching this fight, say that rumble should be taking on GSP. Does anyone but me think that he is no where near ready to fight GSP, or im i just being biased as GSP is my fav fighter. I just think GSP schools him all fight long

GSP would tool him, but he would anyone at 170 so nothing against rumble.

We all know that GSP was once Serra'd, and AJ has some of the heavier hands at WW. But, we all saw what GSP did to Alves, and I would predict an almost duplicate performance against AJ. He has a punchers chance, that's all...

Why you guys pretend like matt hughes is still the champ and in his prime is beyond me. He's done and against a bigger, stronger, faster machine like anthony Johnson it would end very badly for the old red neck. And i wasn't comparing Anthony Johnson's wrestling resume to Matt Hughes, i was just trying to inform LTFG that he did infact have an impressive wrestling background and wasn't some scrub with no grappling ability. And i guess because his national title in wrestling was for a "community college" it basically means there is no shot that this guy would be able to avoid the takedown by a one dimensional well past his prime Hughes. Ok. Sure.

oggy420 wrote:

Why you guys pretend like matt hughes is still the champ and in his prime is beyond me. He's done and against a bigger, stronger, faster machine like anthony Johnson it would end very badly for the old red neck. And i wasn't comparing Anthony Johnson's wrestling resume to Matt Hughes, i was just trying to inform LTFG that he did infact have an impressive wrestling background and wasn't some scrub with no grappling ability. And i guess because his national title in wrestling was for a "community college" it basically means there is no shot that this guy would be able to avoid the takedown by a one dimensional well past his prime Hughes. Ok. Sure.

Yep.

oggy420 wrote:

Why you guys pretend like matt hughes is still the champ and in his prime is beyond me. He's done and against a bigger, stronger, faster machine like anthony Johnson it would end very badly for the old red neck. And i wasn't comparing Anthony Johnson's wrestling resume to Matt Hughes, i was just trying to inform LTFG that he did infact have an impressive wrestling background and wasn't some scrub with no grappling ability. And i guess because his national title in wrestling was for a "community college" it basically means there is no shot that this guy would be able to avoid the takedown by a one dimensional well past his prime Hughes. Ok. Sure.

I liken it to Matt's view of Gracie several years ago. He said the rapid progression of the sport had passed Gracie, he was not dynamic enough. I don't necessarily think the current game has passed Matt as fast or in the same fashion, but I still think it has at the top level. The top guys can all be dangerous wrestlers, strikers, and submitters and their athleticism is through the roof now more than ever. Hughes was great but I think his window has closed on continuing to be great. If he ever gets back in the octagon though he may prove that all wrong. I can think of three who want a piece.