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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
"It doesn't bother me. He can think what he wants. I'm going to still be who I am. I'm nowhere close to the fighter I used to be. A lot of people still think that I am that same fighter that fought at 170, but I'm a different kind of animal right now. Everybody can think and say whatever they want. I know who I am, and we'll see. Personally, I don't care what he thinks, he's entitled to his own opinion. I just have to focus on me and do me... Everybody wants to be the guy to beat the guy, know what I mean? I was disappointed, know what I mean? Because I worked so hard to fight the best and I can't fight the champion, so now I'm focused on the next best in Daniel Cormier."
Penick's Analysis: Johnson has been a very different fighter since finally deciding to stop making the ridiculous cut in weight he was making for his welterweight career. He's not draining his body the week into the fight the same way, and it's made him more dangerous and more effective than he's ever been. Cormier may still beat him on May 23, of course, but if Cormier underestimates just what Johnson is capable of doing in that fight, he'll be disappointed two title fights in a row.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
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