Michael Johnson ended his four-fight skid in highlight-reel fashion Saturday at the expense of Alan Patrick.
Johnson (20-17 MMA, 12-13 UFC), a lightweight veteran who has all kinds of notable wins on his resume in addition to puzzling losses, bounced back from a rough patch at UFC on ESPN 36 when he shut the lights out on Patrick (15-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
After a first round in which both men hurt each other with punches, Johnson came out in the second frame and picked up the pace. He started to discourage his opponent with his shots, then a beautiful four-strike combination dropped Patrick. Johnson dove into the guard to put an exclamation point on the knockout, marking his first win since October 2018.
Check out the replay of Johnson’s finish below (via Twitter):
A statement knockout by Michael Johnson 👊 #UFCVegas54 pic.twitter.com/dXVcg9r8Iu
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 15, 2022
The 𝙈𝙀𝙉𝘼𝘾𝙀 by KNOCKOUT 😤
[ @Menace155 |#UFCVegas54 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/zu2PDqbfq2
— UFC (@ufc) May 15, 2022
Johnson didn’t want to say much in the aftermath of his win. He said he thinks he’s still among the best strikers in the world at 155 pounds, and at 35, still seems to see an opportunity to make another climb up the rankings.
“The journey was rough, rough and tough,” Johnson said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I was in a dark place and a dark hole. I saw some light and I got out of that dark hole.”
