Brian Johnston (born July 28, 1968) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

who competed throughout the mid 1990s, most notably in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority share ...

. His effective mix of precision striking and ground fighting, as seen with other fighters such as

Marco Ruas Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas (; born 23 January 1961) is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, Submission Wrestler, Kickboxer and instructor. Ruas was the UFC 7 Tournament Champion, and also competed for the World Vale Tudo Championshi ...

, would set the standard for what are now common traits in modern-day fighting styles. Johnston holds a black belt in

Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

and was a former

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...

champion. He fought many MMA legends in their prime such as Don Frye,

Mark Coleman Mark Daniel Coleman (born December 20, 1964) is an American retired mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and amateur wrestler. Coleman was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion, the first UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the Pride ...

and

Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

while competing in the UFC. Brian suffered a massive stroke in August 2001 while in Japan prior to a fight, at 32 years of age and 3 weeks after his wedding. Initially trained by Brad Rheingans. He made his pro wrestling debut in 1997, losing to Naoya Ogawa at NJPW

G1 Climax The is a professional wrestling tournament held each August by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. Though it has sometimes been held as a single-elimination tournament, it is usually (and currently) held as a round-robin, with winne ...

Special 1997. Throughout his whole career Johnston was used as a tag team wrestler, teaming with such names like Don Frye, Osamu Kido,

Tadao Yasuda is a Japanese retired sumo wrestler ('' rikishi''), professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in sumo from 1979 to 1992 under the '' shikona'' of Takanofuji Tadao, achieving the rank of '' komusubi'', and afterwards turned to ...

, Dave Beneteau, and

Kazuyuki Fujita is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and a former amateur wrestler, currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a one-time GHC Heavyweight Champion. He has most recently fought in Road FC, but is also known for ...

. He had a notable appearance at the 1999 G1 Tag League, teaming with Takashi Iizuka. After a massive stroke, he was forced to retire in 2001. Johnston would train several team mates to impressive MMA victories, over notables such as Mark Kerr, K-1 fighter

Jan Nortje Johannes "Jan" Nortje (born 11 April 1975) is a South African professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist and undefeated professional boxer who has fought for Strikeforce, DREAM, K-1, Inoki Genome Federation, PRIDE Fighting Championship and ...

and MMA fighters Ryan Gracie and

Mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 5–5 , Dan Bobish , Submission(forearm choke) ,

UFC 14 ''UFC 14: Showdown'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 27, 1997 in Birmingham, Alabama. The event was seen live on pay-per-view in the United States, and later released on home video. History UFC 1 ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–4 , John Renfroe , Submission (choke) , Strikeforce - Strike Force , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–4 , Kimo Leopoldo , Submission (forearm choke) , Ultimate Explosion , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:43 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–3 , Dennis Reed , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Extreme Challenge 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 , Davenport, Iowa, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–3 , Egidio Amaro da Costa , TKO (submission to punches and headbutts) , Universal Vale Tudo Fighting 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 , Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–3 ,

, Submission (forearm choke) , Ultimate Ultimate 1996 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:48 ,

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, TKO (submission to punches) , UFC 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:20 ,

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georg ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Reza Nasri , TKO (punches) , UFC 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:28 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Don Frye , TKO (submission to elbow) , UFC 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:37 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Scott Fiedler , TKO (submission to punches) , UFC 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:25 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Brian Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing American male professional wrestlers American male judoka Sportspeople from San Jose, California 1968 births Professional wrestlers from California Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters