Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (9-3) made a triumphant return to the Octagon tonight after a long layoff from the MMA world.
Rumble took down former top welterweight contender, Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (23-9, 1 NC) by unanimous decision with his smart game plan.
After landing a big head kick to the mohawked head of Hardy, Rumble had the fight finished. Rumble executed smart wrestling, grinding out Hardy—now on a three-fight losing streak.
Once the head-kick landed, the rest of the fight was more of the same: Rumble on top, working and grinding out Hardy.
"My game plan hasn't changed. Dan, I plan on knocking you out. You're my boy, but this is business. He plans on knocking me out too. (His hands) better be up. My hands are going to be up, chin down, something is going to happen. I don't know what, but something is going to happen. I expect it to happen. This is a fight for the first time, I don't expect to go all 15 minutes. This is about to be a war," Johnson said in an interview with MMAHeat.com before the fight.
Throughout the fight, the fans booed Johnson and the supposed "war" hyped up between the two. Rumble's ground ability was his obvious advantage, but fans wanted to see the war they were promised—booing when they didn't get it.
At the end of the fight, Rumble finally showed some life—throwing a flurry of punches while on top of Hardy, until the final bell rang and he was crowned the winner of the co-main event.
Rumble came off almost a two-year layoff from the sport after injury and weight problems arose after his loss to Josh Koscheck at UFC 106 in November of 2009.
With Hardy now off his third straight loss, whether he remains with the UFC is debatable. But due to his draw in England, he'll probably stay. Losing Hardy deals a blow to the UFC's marketing strategy in the UK.
Hardy has come out saying he wants his next opponent to be Carlos Condit, the man who beat him at UFC 120 by knockout. But a fight between the two would be completely undeserving of Hardy—who was beaten decisively by Condit.
The search for Rumble's next opponent now begins for his second fight. Possibilities could include Martin Kampmann or Diego Sanchez.
Rumble could also face off against Paulo Thiago (who was suppose to fight Sanchez at UFC Live earlier this month, but had to pull out due to elbow issues).
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