A welterweight bout between rising talent Anthony Johnson (7-2) and Japanese import Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3) is expected to take place at UFC 104 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 24.
News about the possible match up cropped up at the UFC Fan Expo during the build-up to the historic UFC 100 over the weekend, and we have since been able to confirm it.
Both fighters have bounced back from losses inside the Octagon in impressive fashion and are looking to make dents in the stacked 170-pound division.
Since bursting onto the scene with a 13-second knockout of Chad Reiner, Johnson has pieced together a 4-2 record in the UFC, including revenging a loss to Kevin Burns at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 8 Finale by way of a devastating head kick, and then following up that win by earning a technical knockout (punches) victory over former Marine Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17 in February.
“Rumble” had been scheduled to face Matt Brown at the TUF 9 Finale in June, but was forced to withdrawal due to a knee injury. That month also saw him arrested and charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor, including making criminal threats in what has been called a domestic abuse case; however, Johnson denies all charges, according to his management team.
Opposing him will be Yoshida, the 2007 Cage Force welterweight tournament champion (over finalist Dan Hardy via disqualification due to an illegal kick to the groin). After submitting “War Machine” (aka, Jon Koppenhaver) via anaconda choke in his UFC debut at UFC 84, “Zenko” went on to headline the UFC: “Fight for the Troops” event in support of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
Unfortunately for Yoshida, things did not go his way.
Josh Koscheck was able to secure a brutal knockout victory that saw “Kos” set “Zenko” up with one punch and chop him down with another. It was the first time Yoshida has been finished in his career.
Yoshida was able to bounce back from the loss with a first-round finish of his own at UFC 98, submitting Brandon Wolff via guillotine choke. He is now 10-1 in his past 11 fights with all 10 wins coming via stoppage (eight of which ended in the first round).
UFC 104 will feature a main event between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and contender Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. It is not known yet if the Johnson vs. Yoshida bout will be featured on the main card.
For all the latest news on UFC 104 check out our complete archive right here.
34 Comments »
This guy got knocked senseless by Josh Freaking Koscheck of all people, and now he has to fight Rumble? That ain’t right.
Yeah I’m not sure how this fight goes for Zenko.
KO lol
Yeah, this is a tough one for Yoshida. I predict a sudden nap.
shogun is at +400 on betus right now!!!
Yea shogun should be. He’s gonna get absolutely starched by Machida if he stands with him- still too sloppy. His liddell fight is the first time he showed a semblance of a plan with an end game (set up rights and switch to a leaping wip left) as well as the first time he showed proper and technical striking stance/movement. Still his aggressive BJJ game might be the solution here. Worth taking IMO.
Zenko is going to win this one! I have to back favorite fighters. Rumble is up and coming and I’m sure he can take this one but I’ll be rooting for Zenko to suprise the crowd.
Zenko FTW! Go Japs!
Zenko to win this I hope. I don’t like AJ very much, so I hope he loses. UFC needs more successful Asain fighters. So far, they have Stun Gun, Sexyama, Okami, and…..
My god this is an execution fight, why does the ufc want shattered glass on the canvas at 104… i mean first cain now yoshida damn!
You’re right, I definatley have to give this one to AJ and as far as Cain goes, if he eats a big Carwin right hand he’ll be sleeping on the canvas too.
cain almost went down to konga right hands in his last fight no way he sticks with carwins power
carwin will murder cain
I wouldnt be so quick to anoint Rumble the winner of this fight. I am a big fan of his, but for all we know his ground game can be hOuston Alexanderish. i owuld guess that HOuston hasnt had a lot of training against Judoka’s, so I would suggest that yoshida do every thing in his power to clinch with rumble.
I think Yoshida learned his lesson against Kos, and I think he will look to clinch with good strikers right away!
Great match up in my eyes!
It’s a good match-up but AJ’s ground game isn’t Houston Alexanderish. He isn’t great there but he has a wrestling base and has been working hard on his ground game. He’ll keep Yoshida off him enough to catch him with strikes in the pocket.
ya man AJ is nothing like houston…on the feet or on the ground
houston’s chin is very suspect and his wrestling is not like AJ’s
Yep, they both punch hard … similarities end there.
And they’re both black too…
Let’s hope greg jackson comes up with something for him because AJ packs real power. Because he’s judo based, it’s gonna be ugly for him to try and close the distance. Straight shooting for doubles is a dumb idea against AJ. The thing is that he always catches people shooting in on him once they decide they don’t want to stand with him- nice short left hook. He’s caught fioravanti, reiner, and tommy with it.
i know he is a wrestler, but when I was alluding to his ground game I was talking about his Jits, and submission defense. None of you guys can sit here and tell me that you know at what level Rumble can defend submissions and I doubt he has had much work against Judoka’s
Very interested in this fight.
matt Brown vs. Rumble would be more exciting because they would have gone toe to toe for the entire fight, but this match up is better suited to answer some questions about Rumble’s game!
seems odd to book a fight considering he might be looking at fighting a cell mate for free instead.
Rampage still fights.
I watched chad reiner fight live a couple weeks back…watched him get handled by a guy with a record of 2-1. kinda took a way from anthony johnson’s win over him. reiner looked like absolute garbage.
you could never takeaway from a 11 seconds KO
very true. i stand corrected
Hope Yoshido knocks that criminal out and then goes Hendo on his limp body but x10
yeah youd have a better chance at finding a suitcase full of a million dollars than seeing that happen
agreed lester…
He says he’s innocent. Let’s give him his day in court before we start tarring and feathering him, OK Wyatt?
Goodnight Yoshida! We are going to see a repeat KO like the Kos fight
I dont think this fight lives up to the expectation. Most fights we have figured out on paper dont turn out that way. Chuck vs Rashad everyone thought chuck was getting fed a perfect stylistic opponet for him to ko, and he got Ko’d. Same with Shogun vs Forrest but most probably thought Shogun would sub Forrest. I remember reading the fight picks for Yoshida vs Kos most had Yoshida as the winner, Sherdog, mmaweekly, mmajunkie all picked yoshida, I dont remember how nostradumbass picked but most were picking yoshida. I believe AJ will be distracted and have a down fight. I still think he wins but I think it will be a UD with Yoshida never really getting hurt.
Anthony Rumble Johnson the man to dethrone the champ GSP in about 1 year…Wrestling top tier and stronger than GSP NATURALLY , Taller, Longer Reach, KO POWER , Fists and Feet, THIS IS THE MAN
hope rogan dont fuck up in this fight
with his stupid commentary