Johnson: ‘No Limit For Me’

Anthony Johnson has some choice words for John Howard.

One of the welterweight division’s fastest-rising stars, Johnson was scheduled to lock horns with Howard at “The Ultimate Fighter 9” Finale on June 20 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Howard, however, recently excused himself from the bout and left Johnson without a dance partner.

“I’m supposed to fight June 20,” Johnson told the Sherdog Radio Network’s Savage Dog Show last week. “I don’t know what his deal is [with Howard]. At first, I heard it was about money, and then I heard he got hurt, so I don’t know what excuse he’s going to use to get out of it. If he doesn’t want to fight me, he doesn’t want to fight me.”

MMAWeekly.com reported Wednesday that Johnson would fight Matt Brown instead at the June 20 event. Johnson shrugged off Howard’s decision to withdraw from their showdown and reaffirmed his willingness to meet the Boston native inside the Octagon at a later date.

“Him backing out didn’t affect me at all,” Johnson said. “Everybody knows me. I’ll take a fight on short notice. I don’t need any preparation time to get mentally ready. I’ll beat him up -- a day’s notice or a month’s notice or even a year’s notice.”

Johnson, a Georgia native who wrestled collegiately, has aligned himself with Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le in San Jose, Calif. Meanwhile, Strikeforce lightweight titleholder and UFC veteran Josh Thomson has also taken an interest in Johnson’s progression from prospect to contender.

Many view the 25-year-old as a champion in waiting. Just nine fights into his professional career, he has wowed crowds with raw athleticism and knockout power in his hands and feet. Johnson has delivered all four of his wins inside the UFC by KO or technical knockout. American Top Team’s Luigi Fioravanti became his latest victim when he succumbed to strikes at UFC Fight Night 17 in February.

“If I just keep going and doing what I need to do, there’s no limit for me or anyone else,” Johnson said. “I don’t think you should set a limit for yourself. When you set limits, that’s when you’re basically holding yourself back -- you have doubts and stuff. I don’t have any doubt in myself at all. I think I can go to the top and even further one day.”

Involved in one of the most controversial bouts of 2008, Johnson also weighed in on the subject of officiating in mixed martial arts. In the third round of his first match with Kevin Burns at UFC Fight Night 14 in July, Johnson went down after being poked inadvertently in the eye. Referee Steve Mazzagatti, his vision shielded, believed a punch had leveled Johnson and stepped in to award Burns the TKO victory. Johnson later underwent surgery to correct damage to his eye.

“The refs have a really hard job,” Johnson said. “A lot of people don’t realize how stressful it is for refs. You’ve got to be at the right angle at the right time to see certain things. The first four times Kevin poked me in the eye, I figured Mazzagatti would say something. Now that’s his fault for just not paying attention. The last time, when Kevin got me good, Mazzagatti was just at a bad angle. He thought Kevin caught me with an uppercut after that bootleg jab he did. It wasn’t Mazzagatti’s fault.”

Johnson prefers experienced officials in the cage.

“Whoever’s going to ref me, I want them to be a veteran,” Johnson said. “I don’t want these new guys in there. Nobody’s perfect. I just want these same guys who have been in the game a long time and know what to look for to continue refereeing my fights.”

Johnson avenged his disputed loss to Burns five months later when he knocked out the former Victory Fighting Championships titleholder with a highlight reel head kick at “The Ultimate Fighter 8” Finale in December. He has shown no lingering affects from the eye injury he sustained the first time the two welterweights met.

“It’s 100 percent ready to go,” Johnson said. “I can actually see better since I got poked in the eye, so Kevin actually helped me out. Kevin is my best friend. He helped my popularity get up there. He also gave me a good fight and gave me the opportunity to knock him out.”