Unlikely comeback king
Lavar Johnson will return to action at Strikeforce Challengers 11 on Oct. 22 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., the promotion confirmed to Sherdog.com this week.
An opponent for Johnson, who survived three gunshot wounds sustained during a walk-by shooting at a family reunion in July 2009, is still being finalized.
The 33-year-old Johnson earned a second-round technical knockout against
Lolohea Mahe at Strikeforce Challengers 7 on March 26, also in Fresno, Calif. Eight months earlier, Johnson had been hospitalized for 30 days and had lost 50 pounds. He left with an open hole in his stomach and had limited mobility. Against the odds, the 6-foot-2, 260-pound heavyweight was medically cleared four months later and was back in the gym.
Prior to the shooting, Johnson had strung together a five-fight win streak, which included an impressive 18-second knockout against
Carl Seumanutafa at Strikeforce Challengers 1 in May 2009.
Johnson, who wears the badge of his life-or-death ordeal in the form of a thick, jagged scar which runs from his sternum down past his navel, told Sherdog.com in March that the hardest part to returning was putting the weight back on and regaining his mobility.
“My stomach was jacked up for a long time -- they cut me all the way open,” said Johnson in March. “They had to splice my intestines in six different spots, take out my appendix. My colon had been damaged and my stomach had been damaged, so (it) did a lot.”
Strikeforce Challengers 11 will air live on Showtime.
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