UFC Fight Night 37's Michael Johnson on blackjack-like run

(This story first appeared in today’s USA TODAY.)

LONDON – As winning streaks go, a two-fight run is modest. But for Michael Johnson, it feels huge.

After having a three-fight streak derailed in 2012, “The Ultimate Fighter 12? finalist bounced back in 2013 with the two biggest wins of his career. The momentum from those victories made taking a fight on relatively short notice an easy call.

On Saturday, Johnson (14-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) meets Melvin Guillard (31-12-2 MMA, 12-8 UFC) in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 37 (12:30 p.m. ET, UFC Fight Pass) at O2 Arena.

“Short-notice fights aren’t a big deal for me,” Johnson tells USA TODAY Sports. “I’m always in shape, I’m always training, I’m always getting ready for fights. I’m not sitting around on the couch after fights. I’m a fighter.”

In August, Johnson went into Joe Lauzon’s backyard in Boston as an underdog and took it to him for the upset, putting himself back on the lightweight map after back-to-back losses.

He returned in December and beat one of the division’s most physically imposing fighters in Gleison Tibau, becoming the first fighter to knock out the Brazilian in more than seven years.

“You never want to stop the momentum,” Johnson says. “It’s like sitting at the blackjack table in a casino. If you’re on a streak, you’re not going to get up. You want to keep riding it out. You’ve got to keep it going.”

The thing is, of course, some people do get up from the blackjack table during a streak. They play it safe and are happy with what they’ve won.

But Johnson doesn’t want to just play it safe and win a few hands in the UFC’s card game.

“I’m so addicted to success, it consumes me,” he says. “My main goal is to succeed in this business and get the title. So whenever I can fight, I’m taking it.”

So when the UFC called him to fill in for the injured Ross Pearson against Guillard, a fighter he briefly trained with at the Blackzilian’s camp in South Florida before Guillard moved on, it was a no-brainer.

But part of that is because Johnson is in a different frame of mind now than he was two years ago when he had three wins in a row. At that point, he made a critical mistake.

“I fell into a zone where I felt like I couldn’t be beat at that point,” Johnson says. “I got a little ahead of myself, and my head got a little big. I lost to two guys I shouldn’t have lost to. But I got my (stuff) together, I turned it around in the gym, and now those two fights are completely forgotten about. I beat two of the best lightweights in the division, and now I’m ready to take another one.”

If he gets past Guillard, a title shot is not necessarily imminent at lightweight. He’ll likely need a few more wins. But that, he says, is what he’s here for.

“I’m in the UFC to fight and win the title,” he says. “Whenever an opportunity presents itself, I’m there to take it.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 37, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.