Well, that was brief.
Anthony Johnson earned a first-round finish of Ryan Bader in the main event at UFC on FOX 18 in Newark, N.J. on Saturday night.
After stuffing a takedown attempt, Johnson maneuvered to securing Bader’s back and pounded out his opponent to finish the bout at 1:26 of Round 1.
“I never get full mount. How y’all like my jiu-jitsu now?” he said. “I’m just trying to have fun. I’m not trying to prove anything to anybody.”
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After a short time on the feet, Bader shot in for a single-leg takedown in an attempt to bring the fight to the ground. Johnson, however, executed a solid sprawl and secured himself in an advantageous position.
Johnson transitioned to his opponent’s back and began to rain punches from mount. Bader could do nothing but cover up as “Rumble” dropped several hard strikes from behind. The referee stopped the beating soon after.
After the bout, Joe Rogan interviewed Johnson and indicated that he should be next in line for a shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.
“I will be waiting for whoever has that belt,” Johnson proclaimed.
With the win, Johnson improves to 5-1 since returning to the UFC in 2014. His sole loss came in a light heavyweight title fight to current division champion Daniel Cormier.
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