(Bleacher Report) – Let’s jump into the MMA time machine and travel back three short years to 2012. UFC 142 was set to occur in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Anthony Johnson was set to move up to the middleweight division and face off with Vitor Belfort. What occurred would forever change Johnson’s career track, but the end result may be completely different than expected.
With a victory at UFC 187 Saturday, Johnson may complete one of the best career turnarounds to date.
There are fighters who have a hard time making weight. Then there was Johnson and his continued struggles. After repeated struggles to make welterweight, Johnson was to move up to middleweight. He stepped on the scale the day before UFC 142 at 197 pounds—11 pounds over the limit. Needless to say, the leaders of the organization were not happy.
“This is not the first time this has happened with Johnson. He moved up to 185 pounds so this wouldn’t happen to him at 170 pounds, and here we are in the same position again,” UFC President Dana White is quoted by Michael David Smith of MMA Fighting. “[Belfort] came in like a professional on weight, and Anthony Johnson comes in as a total unprofessional, way overweight.”