“Three strikes and your gone” were the words that silenced the fate of ex-welterweight contender Anthony Johnson.
Johnson moved up from 170-pounds while on a two-bout win streak to middleweight, usually when a fighter moves up a weight class you expect his opponents at the higher weight class to have a size edge on them, not in this case.
Johnson unprofessionally weighed in 11 pounds over-weight before his middleweight clash with former title challenger Vitor Belfort who received 20% of his purse for being so far off his taget weight.
In a do-or-die situation he failed to deliver in the cage being submitted by “The Phenom” after repeatedly searching for takedown after takedown on the Brazilian he gave up his back and was caught with a rear-naked-choke which will be the last time we see him in the UFC, for now.
Johnson is an exciting combatants who brings excitement to the cage when he battles and has primarily been in good graces with the company when his weight is on track.
Despite rumors that have already started circling the underground I highly doubt “Rumble” will be entering a Bellator welterweight or middleweight tournament due to the strict contracting on part of Bellator founder & CEO Bjorn Rebney.
With a few victories on the regional circuit where he demonstrates an ability to make weight with no issues and Joe Silva will be ringing his phone in no time.
