Anthony Johnson considering moving to 185

[tn94z]

TweetI am glad to see this really. I think he will be a much better fighter there. When you have to be carried to your weigh-ins because you are so dehydrated, how good can you really be in a fight?

A persistent knee injury has UFC standout Anthony Johnson (8-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) contemplating a move to middleweight.

Johnson, a welterweight who cuts as much as 50 pounds to make the 170-pound limit, was in February forced to withdraw from a bout with rival John Howard at UFC on Versus 1 because of the injury. He has struggled since to get his knee back to 100 percent.

"He has to maintain a very diligent cardio routine to stay in striking range of 170 (pounds)," Johnson's manager, Ken Pavia, today told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com). "Because of his knee injury, his weight has gotten up a little bit, and we don't want to delay his comeback because of a weight issue. So we're entertaining the possibility of taking a fight at 185 (pounds)."

Johnson underwent knee surgery a month ago and has not fought since welterweight contender Josh Koscheck submitted him at UFC 106 this past November. The loss snapped a three-fight streak of wins by TKO or KO.

Johnson, who was traveling today and unreachable for comment, has previously spoken about the arduous process of shedding so many pounds and his high walk-around weight between fights.

"Anthony Johnson is one of our more solid light heavyweights right now," Pavia said today. "I'm pretty sure he's bigger than Tito (Ortiz)."

A severely dehydrated Johnson needed to be carried to the weigh-ins and missed weight by five pounds for his fight with Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104 this past October (he was allowed a one-pound overage for the non-title fight). He defeated the Japanese fighter by first-round TKO.

Johnson has not yet agreed to the move, and Pavia said any weight change will be temporary. There is no concrete timetable for the his return and no current offers to appear at middleweight.

"It's touch and go until he reaches another level of rehabilitation," Pavia said. "He's anxious to go, and we're holding him back because we don't want the injury to be re-occurring.

The UFC has no objections to Johnson's move, he added.

"[UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva has a couple rules that he lives by, one of which is he'll never tell a fighter what weight to fight at, and he'll never make a fighter fight injured," Pavia said. "And he'll tell you that over and over again.

"That being said, the last time he saw [Johnson], he turned to me and said, 'C'mon, dude.' So that's one of the reasons we're entertaining an [185 pound] fight. It's not for sure yet.

Pavia said Johnson's priority is winning the welterweight belt followed by the middleweight belt.

"[A middleweight fight] may expedite his return, as opposed to taking more time off to reach the ultimate goal," Pavia said. "I don't think he's convinced. He's considering it."

[FUZO]

TweetI dont know how well he will do at 185 he mnight do very well. but yeah 170 isnt his weight

[Strella]

TweetThats way too much of a cut at WW for him. Thats gotta be awful for your body

[tn94z]

TweetYeah and some people wondered why he looked flat in some fights.

[FUZO]

Tweet

Yeah and some people wondered why he looked flat in some fights.

THATS HIS FAULT HE SHOULD OF NOT GAIN ALL THAT WEIGHT BACK. IF I KNOW I'M A 170 OR 185LB FIGHTER I'M STAYING AT THAT WEIGHT YEAR ROUND. WHY THESE FIGHTERS HAVE TO CUT DOWN IS JUST DUMB IF YOU ASK ME. STAY AT THE WEIGHT AND DIET AND TRAIN YEAR ROUND. IF YOU GAIN 5 MAYBE 10LBS SO WHAT THATS EASY TO LOSE IN A FEW MONTHS. WHEN ITFOT TO MY 230 WEIGHT I SAID I'M DONE GROWING I STOPPED UPPING MY GEAR AND FOUND WHAT WORKS TO KEEP ME AT THE RIGHT WEIGH WHICH IS NOW 222 SO I DONT FLUCTUATE. AND I JUST LOWERD MY DOSE AGAIN BECAUSE I WANT TO BE 210 AGAIN.