It’s no secret that the lightweight division is one of the UFC’s most exciting divisions. The top 5 of the UFC’s lightweight division according to the promotions official rankings are as follows:
Champion – Conor McGregor
#1 Khabib Nurmagomedov
#2 Tony Ferguson
#3 Eddie Alvarez
#4 Rafael dos Anjos
#5 Nate Diaz
Just out of the top 5 is heavy handed Michael Johnson, who recently dropped a 3rd round submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 205 several weeks ago. The loss returned Johnson to the loss column after his impressive 1st round KO win over Dustin Poirier at ‘UFC Fight Night: Hidalgo’ back in September.
Now, on the heels of his loss to Nurmagomedov, Johnson is looking to return to the Octagon sooner rather than later and ideally return to the win column as he has his sights set on former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. He spoke to FloCombat:
“Dos Anjos is the fight I want next,” he said. “I don’t know if he agrees with me — or if that’s a fight he wants — but that is what I’m going after. I was just down in Brazil for my brother Kamaru Usman’s fight and was sitting at the press conference when they announced the UFC would be coming back to Brazil in March.
“I thought, ‘Why not fight RDA in March?’” he continued. “I’ll come to his backyard and fight him in his home country. I have no problems with that at all. I think it would be a great fight. He’s a guy who likes to stand and trade and I’m the exact same way.”
Dos Anjos is currently on a 2-fight win streak that has seen him drop back to back losses to Eddie Alvarez, where he lost the lightweight championship in July, and most recently Tony Ferguson, who he lost to earlier this month.
The way Johnson sees it, the matchup is perfect for both men, and he’s so committed to getting the fight that he would be willing to accept it in Brazil:
“We are both coming off tough losses to guys who we both would love to get back in there with. I think it’s perfect timing for this fight. I said before all the stars had to align for me to face Khabib and I think the same thing is happening now with RDA as well.”