LAS VEGAS – Charles Johnson has a couple of different fights – and vastly different in styles – that he’d like for his next career step.
Johnson (19-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC), a rising UFC flyweight contender, would like to mix things up with crafty wrestler Asu Almabayev or or scrappy striker Brandon Royval following his latest win in the octagon. Johnson defeated veteran Bruno Silva (15-8-2 MMA, 3-5 UFC) on the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 269 at the Meta APEX.
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Johnson sees those two names as a step forward, and very good tests to showcase his progress.
“I think Asu is a great fight,” Johnson told MMA Junkie and other media at the UFC Fight Night 269 post-fight press conference. “It’s that wrestling style that I’ve had difficulties in the past. Not anymore. And I would love to test myself against him. He’s a very tough style to deal with because he’s grapple heavy, but he can throw bombs. And, you know, he beat the guy I just lost to, (Alex Perez). So regardless, that shows that for me, I just, I can get that fight back by beating him.
“Or, you know, I’ve fought Brandon Royval in the LFA, and that was a very close fight. A lot of guys feel like I won that fight all those years ago, and me and him are much better athletes now. He’s been at the top of the game for a while. I respect him a lot, love the guy, so I think that that’ll be an amazing fight for the fans as well. I’m excited for whatever is to come, to be honest.”
Johnson was able to bounce back from a TKO loss to Alex Perez in January with his victory. Although some saw it as a close bout, the judges were split in the call with two scoring it in favor of Johnson and one in favor of Silva.
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“I was very confident when I heard 30-27,” Johnson said reflecting in the scoring of the fight. “I thought I won every round, and it was very weird that it was a split because I thought I won every round. He didn’t get takedowns. He was pushing me to the cage, but I was negating every takedown and I was landing elbows and knees in the clinch um my back was against the cage but that he wasn’t scoring so it was weird that they gave him two rounds because of that. … That was weird scoring in my eyes, but at the end of the day, we won.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Charles Johnson calls for Asu Almabayev or Brandon Royval rematch
