UFC on FOX 23's Jordan Johnson not interested in pre-fight hijinks: 'I'm just here to whoop ass, dude'

DENVER – Jordan Johnson is happy to talk business when the cage door closes. But if it’s pre-fight shenanigans you’re looking for, you’ve come to the wrong guy.

After dominating Luis Henrique da Silva (12-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) for a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 23, octagon newcomer Johnson (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took the time to explain just what it is he’s set out to do – and why it begins when the bell rings.

“I’m just here to whoop ass, dude,” Johnson said. “That’s it. So all these other guys can do that, and maybe some other people can get caught up with what’s going on and let their emotions take over, but I know this where I’m supposed to be, what I’m supposed to be doing, so that’s it.

“I think that’s just kind of the way I’m wired. I save it for the fight. I don’t think there’s no reason to be acting kind of like an asshole before the fight. And once I get in the cage my energy picks up, and I’m excited, and that’s where I use my energy.”

The light heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC on FOX 23 event at Pepsi Center in Denver. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FOX.

Johnson’s display was made all the more impressive by the fact he walked into a high-altitude octagon debut less than two months after his previous scrap – a five-round affair that earned him RFA’s final 205-pound title. But not only did the undefeated up-and-comer take no issue with the quick turnaround, he welcomed it.

“It was good,” Johnson said. “If you look at the past few months from me, I’ve been running it pretty hot. But it was good, I was in shape. You know, I got the phone call, why not?”

Asked whether he was even in any way affected by the Denver’s notoriously tricky elevation, Johnson didn’t hesitate to say no. But while the “always in shape” 28-year-old believes he was more physically fit than his opponent, he doesn’t think it would have mattered either way.

“He could’ve been in the best shape of his life and I still would have whooped his ass,” Johnson said. “You look at the first round, everyone’s in shape for the first round, he was throwing this hard and I won all the exchanges on the feet. I scored all the takedowns. I went for all the submissions.

“No matter who you are, you take someone off the couch and put them in the cage, they’re going to fight, they’re going to be in shape for four, five minutes. So, I beat the (expletive) out of him in the first round. I continued to do it. As he started going down, I kept controlling the fight. So, I would have whooped his ass regardless.”

To hear more from Johnson on his UFC debut, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC on FOX 23, check out the UFC Events section of the site.