Flyweight Charles Johnson enters UFC Vegas 114 looking to bounce back from a loss to Alex Pereira, while at the same time arguably seeing his profile soar higher than ever.
Johnson (18-8) has been lauded of late for having wins over UFC flyweight champion Joshua Van, and recent UFC Mexico City winner Lone’er Kavanagh. Johnson’s prowess was highlighted by the UFC broadcast in relation to Kavanagh’s victory over Brandon Moreno late last month, which might be why his fight with Bruno Gustavo da Silva can now be found on the UFC Vegas 114 main card.
During Wednesday’s media day ahead of this weekend’s Fight Night card, Johnson reflected on the Pereira loss.
“I lost so fast in my eyes, it just was a blur. I remember everything but it was just a blur of a moment that you prepared for for months. Everything happened so fast that, like I jogged out of the cage, got to the back, talking to the doctor, he’s like ‘oh you’ve got reflexes of a cat.’ Like ‘I know man, I just got caught with a punch.'”
He also suggested that, in the modern UFC, stoppages might be coming a little quicker.
“UFC was a different animal before, guys really had to get put out. Now, refs sometimes try to save athletes I feel like,” stated Johnson. “These guys do a great job, I believe, but sometimes, us, because of everything that’s going in it and these opportunities are so slim, I’d rather go out. For me, knowing that I was still there and I got caught with a punch, and it didn’t look good but it’s a fight. Sometimes it’s not going to look good.”
In Silva, Johnson gets a Brazilian veteran who has fought and trained with some of the best. Queried about the match-up, “Inner G” said that it was “a great fight,” with Silva “a tough opponent. It’s the same fight [as Pereira]. Very explosive in the first round, can finish the fight at any moment if he gets your back. Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. I’m very familiar with him, because Henry Cejudo was the world champion, I know he was training with him for a while, and I’m familiar with that team in Arizona.”
Charles Johnson has watched footage of Silva, from training videos to fights. “I’m always pretty aware of who’s in my weight class, who I may be fighting. This is one that, for about a year and a half now could possibly happen, so I was always kind of aware of his game.”
Johnson’s first thought in regards to the match-up was that Silva was a very similar fighter to Alex Pereira, in terms of his explosiveness. The second was that “Josh Van beat him, and Josh Van’s the champ. So if I want to be champion, I need to beat this guy too.”
“This is a great test for me to see where I am in my career, and go out there and take it.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 114 media day appearance by Charles Johnson above.
