White: Anthony Johnson a contender, but needs another fight

SAN JOSE – Anthony Johnson might have the UFC’s awe, but the 30-year-old fighter is not quite a title contender yet, according to UFC President Dana White.

“He still needs another fight to get into that (level),” White told MMAjunkie at the event’s press conference.

Still, Johnson’s 44-second dispatch of veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC on FOX 12 once again brought fans in touch with his explosive power and impressed White, who two years ago blasted the fighter for missing weight a third time in the promotion and oversaw his ouster.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a guy go from 170 (pounds) to 205 and actually be more powerful and more devastating than he was at 170. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“I was blown away by Anthony’s performance tonight. He made it quick, and he made it look easy. We’ll get him another fight.”

Johnson (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) and Nogueira (21-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) co-headlined the FOX-televised main card of Saturday’s event at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

The fight had barely gotten going when Johnson hurt Nogueira with his right hand and then finished him off against the cage with a flurry of hooks and uppercuts. Herb Dean waved the fight off as Nogueira slumped to the canvas, bleeding.

“When you face a guy like Nogueira, you think, ‘OK, this is about to be a battle,’ because the last name Nogueira means a lot,” Johnson said at the post-event presser. “Those guys fight with a lot of pride. I knew I had to finish him or hurt him really bad so the judges didn’t have any second guesses or think that he won. So I’m glad that it ended that way.”

The win follows another banner performance for Johnson, who stormed onto USA TODAY/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings after outpointing Phil Davis in April at UFC 172.

Asked who he’d like to fight next, Johnson simply said, “Everybody.”

“Rumble,” who now trains with the Blackzilians in Boca Raton, Fla., was cut from the UFC in 2012 when he showed up heavy for a losing effort in a middleweight bout against Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, which was the third time he missed weight in the promotion. Previously, he missed the limit twice as a welterweight, where he racked up a 7-3 record with six stoppage wins.

After the bout, Johnson again humbled himself and thanked the San Jose crowd for a big reception.

As he has noted several times in the buildup to his recent UFC fights, Johnson attributed his comeback to a change not only in weight class, but in attitude.

“For sure, I’m training a lot different,” he said. “I’m training harder, I’m training smarter, and I’ve dedicated myself to the sport. I’m really trying to give it my all for a change.

“When I got cut from the UFC, that was the day I was like, ‘I can’t do this any more. I’m making myself look like a fool.’ I was hurting my team, I was hurting my team, and I was hurting myself. Sooner or later, you’ve got to grow up and listen. I think along the two years I was away from the UFC, I grew up a little bit.

“I still have a lot of growing up to do; I’m still a big kid.”

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