by John Morgan on Oct 22, 2009 at 7:25 am ET
UFC welterweight Anthony Johnson (7-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has no desire to hide his approach to fighting.
"I'm not stupid when it comes down to the ground, but you really won't see me trying to pull off a submission," Johnson recently told
MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "Even if I'm on my back I'm going to try and punch you in your face."
Johnson will get a chance to implement that plan on the main card of Saturday's UFC 104 event against Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC), and "Rumble" doesn't plan on winning the evening's "Submission of the Night."
"I love my standup," Johnson said. "I'm not crazy about jiu-jitsu, but I know I need it. I respect it because it's part of the game; it's part of my sport and what I do. I have to respect it, but I prefer standup, if anything. But if I go down to the ground, I won't panic or anything."
Yoshida is no stranger to a standup affair, so the night's first televised bout could prove to be a real barnburner. Johnson simply views Yoshida as the next step in his development as a complete fighter.
"[People] are always asking me when am I going to get a shot with [UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre], and I always tell them the same thing: when I deserve it," Johnson said. "There's so many good welterweights that are ahead of me. I think I have to fight some of the best before the fans say or the UFC says, 'Hey, here's your chance to fight 'GSP.'
"I still have a lot of work to do. I'm not going to say I'm ready for 'GSP' right now or anything like that. I'm not. I still want to improve. I still want to become a better fighter and a better person, too."
And to do that, Johnson said he plans on visiting the best camps in the country.
"I am going to start [visiting other gyms] after this fight," Johnson said. "I think I need to go out more and see what all is out there because you can never learn too much when it comes down to anything in life, really. I see that with mixed martial arts, too.
"I think I'm going to start going around and training with some other guys just to see what I can learn. They can help me, and I can help them in different ways. So I plan on going to different gyms just to better myself. That's what all the good MMA fighters do."
The quick and powerful Johnson also has size on his side. "Rumble" is notable as one of the welterweight division's biggest fighters, and he was actually forced to cut down from nearly 220 pounds for Saturday's fight after becoming undisciplined in his diet. But Johnson has no immediate plans of leaving the division.
"I think I can stay at 170 (pounds) as long as I want to," Johnson said. "I'll probably stay at 170 until I absolutely get my ass whooped. Then I'll probably move up a weight class. But I love 170. I have so much respect for the guys at 170 because to mev that division, and lightweight, are the divisions you want to be in if you think you're a good fighter.
"I just have to watch my diet and eat better. I'm a big country boy. I'm from Georgia. I'm used to Southern food, fried food. I love eating that stuff. But since I've been in California, now I have to change up my diet. Back then when I was back home in Georgia, I played football and all that other stuff, so they want us big. But this isn't football. This is MMA, so I've got to eat clean."
With a better diet and improved technique, Johnson could prove troublesome for any fighter in the welterweight division – including St. Pierre. But Johnson is focused on Yoshida, and then he'll let the UFC decide his next move.
"Everybody's on my radar," Johnson said. "They're out to take me out just like I'm out to take them out. It's a dog-eat-dog world in mixed martial arts."
For complete coverage of
UFC 104, stay tuned to the
UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
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