Bellator 102's Lavar Johnson: Kongo prize of Season 9 heavyweight tourney

Lavar Johnson is no longer taking his opponents at their word when they talk about what kind of fight they’re putting on. 

“I’m assuming that everybody is trying to take me down now,” Johnson (17-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) told MMAjunkie.com in advance of his bout with Vinicius Queiroz (6-3 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) at Bellator 102, which takes place Friday at Visalia Convention Center in Visalia, Calif. 

Although not a collegiate wrestler, Johnson is a former football player and knows how to tackle an opponent. But he is a striker at heart and has used his fists to earn 15 of his 17 wins. 

He admits his eagerness to add another knockout to his resume led him astray against his previous opponent. He said he was fooled when fellow heavyweight Brendan Schaub announced his intention to stand and trade when they fought at UFC 157. 

Rather than approach Schaub cautiously, lest a takedown attempt arise, he gunned for a knockout and wound up on his back for much of the fight, which took place at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

“I’m an idiot for that,” Johnson said. “It’s my fault for being overly aggressive and going for that one-shot kill.”

Schaub won a unanimous decision and handed Johnson his second straight loss in the UFC. Johnson was then cut from the promotion after a post-fight drug test revealed elevated levels of testosterone and he was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission. 

Johnson said he isn’t bitter about his tenure in the UFC, but also takes issue with something Schaub claimed in interviews about the fight. 

Schaub told MMAjunkie.com that he asked Johnson why he didn’t learn jiu-jitsu when Johnson asked him to let him up to trade punches. 

“He ad-libbed that in,” Johnson said. “When the referee said, ‘Keep moving,’ he said, ‘I’m working here.’ Trust me, he did not want to stand up. He wanted to keep it on the ground for as long as possible, which I don’t blame him. I still outstruck him, 170 punches to 70, from my back.”

When he makes his Bellator debut, Johnson won’t be listening to Queiroz’s pre-fight interviews, but he’ll still be looking for the knockout. He hopes that adding another KO will lead to a showdown with his fellow UFC vet, Cheick Kongo, who meets Mark Godbeer in the opposing bracket of the Viacom-owned promotion’s Season 9 heavyweight tournament. 

“I think Kongo is the main guy that everybody wants to fight,” Johnson said. “He’s got the biggest name out of everybody here. You beat Kongo and have that on your resume, then that’s saying big things. So I think we’re all looking at Kongo.”

Johnson said Queiroz is a brown belt in jiu-jitsu under Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, yet likes to stand and trade punches during fights. In both of his Bellator appearances, which came in the Season 7 heavyweight tourney, Queiroz looked more like a striker than a grappler.

That’s an encouraging sign with Johnson, but not enough to make him think it’s going to be an easy night of work. 

“I don’t take away anything from these fighters,” he said. “Everybody at this level is a really good fighter, and they’re in Bellator or the UFC not because they can’t fight. We’re heavyweights – one punch could change the whole situation, so there’s no give at this level. You better take everybody seriously, or you’re going to get hurt. So I’m not looking past Vinicius.”

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