In a battle of former top college wrestlers, Anthony Johnson knocked out Ryan Bader in 86 seconds of the first round of their light-heavyweight (205-pound) top-of-the-card bout at the UFC on Fox 18 event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Saturday night.
"Grown men go to sleep when Anthony Johnson hits them. Ryan Bader now knows this truth all too well," is how Sherdog.com opened its report of Saturday's Ultimate Fighting Championships event broadcast live on Fox.
"Johnson knocked out "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 8 winner with hellacious first-round ground-and-pound in the UFC on Fox 18 headliner ... The end came 1:26 into round one, with a splattered Bader face-down and unconscious."
Here's how ESPN.com described the match:
"The bout was a nightmare for Bader from essentially the opening bell. A former All-American collegiate wrestler, Bader shot unsuccessfully on Johnson immediately and ended up turtled near the center of the cage. He defensively went after Johnson's right arm with a kimura, in an attempt to prevent him from improving his position and dropping punches. Johnson eventually cleared his arm though and landed a few hard shots from back mount that put Bader to sleep."
After the match, Johnson, a 2004 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) champ at 174 pounds for Lassen Community College in California, said he wasn't surprised by the actions of Bader, a two-time PAC-10 champ and two-time NCAA All-American for Arizona State.
"It was either going to be two things: He was going to play it safe or he was going to go right in and come after me," Johnson said. "He did one of the two, and he came right after me."
With the win, Johnson is now 21-5 overall in his MMA career, and 12-5 in UFC fights. He is expected to face the winner of a yet-to-be-scheduled Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier match. The loss snapped a five-bout win streak for Bader, who is now 20-5 in his career, and 13-5 in UFC.
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