"Whoever They Bring to the Table, I Will Be Ready For"

Originally posted on Fighthype.com


"Whoever I have to go against, I'm not thinking about them. They have to worry about me because I'm just trying to do my thing. I have to make sure I become more well-rounded. That way, whoever they bring to the table, I will be ready for whatever they try to do to me. There is nobody specific that I want to fight right now. It used to be Matt Hughes, but after this weekend, I met him, because he was there with his 155-pounder Matt Veach, and he was pretty cool. My little grudge against him is kind of gone; I ain't tripping off of that no more," stated UFC welterweight contender Anthony Johnson as he talked about his future plans after his impressive win over Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17. Check out what else he had to say as he talks more about his win, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn and much more.

PC: Congratulations on the big win my man.

AJ: I appreciate that man.

PC: You were pretty hard on your performance during the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. Have you had a chance to go back and watch it again?

AJ: Yeah, I watched it. I still think my performance could have been better. I should have been landing more, but you train to fight not to chase people around and make them fight. But that was probably his gameplan, to make me chase him so he could capitalize on whatever mistake I made, so no hard feelings towards him. That's what his camp trained him to do to fight against me; more power to him.

PC: With your striking ability, you're a very hard puncher and your kicks are coming around. Do you think that'll be the norm for you, to chase guys around with fewer guys being willing to bang with you?

AJ: Nah! If I was in his camp…he had a good gameplan. He tried to keep his distance and come in whenever he could. He tried to play the counter game with me and I'm a counter fighter anyway. He tried to dip and dive to get me to react so he could come with his overhand right or whatever. He almost caught me with it a couple of times. Thank God for my height and my reach. He never hit me in my face one time during the whole fight. The only time he hit me was in my chest and in my shoulders.

PC: And in the nuts.

AJ: Yeah! He caught me pretty good in my babies, but they still kicking (laughing).

PC: Was there anything about him that surprised you? I was a little shocked he didn't stand his ground more.

AJ: I'm never really surprised by anybody's gameplan because of my style of fighting. My style of fighting is hard to figure out. I don't think anybody else in my weight class fights like me. Nothing really surprised me with Luigi. I know if he would have had the opportunity to knock me out, he would have. He's a hard puncher and after the fight, my shoulders were hurting. He was constantly hitting my shoulders so every time he swung at me, it was a strike to kill. He had some power behind his punches. That's why I was telling everybody he was tough as nails. I never looked past Luigi at all because I knew he could knock your block off quick.

........

PC: Congrats again on the win. As always, thanks for your time my man. Is there anything you want to say in closing?

AJ: I would like to thank all of my sponsors and I have to thank you man for hitting me up and taking the time to holla at me. My sponsors are TapouT, Knoxx and my agents at MMA Agents, Ken Pavia and my team, my coaches, my family and my fans. Without all of those people I just named, I wouldn't be who I am right now.

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