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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson enters today's UFC on Fox 14 event with a healthy amount of respect for Alexander Gustafsson, but he feels it's his time to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him.
With a title fight on the line, Johnson said in an interview with UFC.com that while Gustafsson's an extremely tough fight, he's going to win in Sweden.
"Look man, this guy is underrated. He flies under the radar," Johnson said of Gustafsson. "Even after taking Jon Jones into deep water, people still don't have the kind of respect for him that he deserves. He's got top quality trainers, top quality fighting partners, and he's a top athlete for a reason. Now, do I think I'm going to win, yeah, I do. But do I think it will be easy? Hell no."
"...I'm looking forward to it. I made my own path in this sport. Some of my decisions were good, some were bad, but recently they've been good. A year ago I never would have thought I would be in a title eliminator bout for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, but here I am, and I am damn well not going to take it for granted."
One of the concerns for Johnson's game into today's event is his cardio, especially if the fight goes into the fourth or fifth round. Johnson thinks he'll stop the fight before then, but doesn't expect to have any issues if it gets to that point.
"If I were to predict when I'm going to win this fight, I would say the third round," Johnson said. "I don't really care how I win, I just want to win. But if it goes to rounds four or five, I've got plenty of gas in the tank."
Penick's Analysis: This is a massive opportunity, and to be fair to Johnson, we really don't know how he'll respond to such a big spot. This is a bit of a first for him, and he's been handling himself in the cage well since returning to the UFC. I don't know that his cardio should be trusted in the fourth or fifth, but he could prove people wrong on that front as well. This is a major spot for him, and if he pulls off the win, he'll have an even bigger fight ahead of him this summer.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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