Anthony Johnson Jr. (born February 6, 1986) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

currently competing in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division of

Absolute Championship Akhmat Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Chechen mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe. To date, most events have been h ...

where he is the former ACA Heavyweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2008, Johnson has formerly competed for

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

, ONE Fighting Championship, Fight Nights Global, and

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock Jr. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstre ...

. He is the former KOTC Heavyweight Champion. He is ranked #6 in the ACA heavyweight rankings.

Mixed martial arts career

King of the Cage

After going undefeated in his first three professional mixed martial arts fights, Johnson signed with

and challenged Tony Lopez for his KOTC heavyweight championship on March 26, 2010, at KOTC: Legacy. Also being the KOTC light heavyweight champion, Lopez was undefeated his last sixteen fights, which marked Johnson's most experienced opponent at the time. Johnson recorded the upset, using his wrestling to defeat the much more experienced Lopez via unanimous decision and becoming the KOTC heavyweight champion in just only his fourth professional fight. Johnson made his first title defense against then prospect and future UFC light heavyweight champion

Daniel Cormier Daniel Ryan Cormier (; born March 20, 1979) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, freestyle wrestler, and current color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As a former UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweig ...

at KOTC: Imminent Danger on August 13, 2010. He lost the fight and KOTC heavyweight championship in the first round via rear-naked choke submission, resulting in his first professional loss. Johnson rebounded from his loss to Cormier by defeating Boban Simic via unanimous decision on November 13, 2010 at KOTC: Infusion.

Bellator

In April 2011, it was announced that Johnson had signed with Bellator, with his promotional debut expected to take place at Bellator 41 on April 16 against Carlos Flores. Johnson, however, was later replaced by Rudy Aguilar for unknown reasons. Johnson eventually made his promotional debut against current

UFC 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 TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

competitor Derrick Lewis at Bellator 46 on June 25, 2011. He won the fight via unanimous decision by 29–28 on the scorecards.

ONE Fighting Championship

After being sidelined for nearly two years due to issues with his Bellator contract, Johnson signed with Singapore-based promotion

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

and faced former UFC heavyweight champion

Tim Sylvia Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best kn ...

at ONE Fighting Championship: Rise to Power on May 31, 2013. The fight was contested at a catchweight of 271 lbs. after Sylvia missed weight. Johnson won the fight via TKO due to a doctor stoppage in the third round after an elbow by Johnson opened up a cut on Sylvia's forehead. Johnson next faced Chris Lokteff at ONE Fighting Championship: Warrior Spirit on November 15, 2013. He lost the fight via split decision.

Independent promotions

Over a year later, on November 22, 2014, Johnson faced Robert Neal at V3 Fights: Neal vs. Johnson and won via TKO due to elbows in the very first round.

Return to Bellator

Johnson re-signed with Bellator and faced former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov at

Bellator 136 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on April 10, 2015. He won the fight via split decision. One judge scored the fight 29–28 for Volkov, while the other two judges scored it 29–28 to Johnson. Johnson faced former professional boxer Raphael Butler at Bellator 148 on January 29, 2016. Johnson utilised his wrestling to take Butler down and wear him down, before the referee stopped the bout in favour of Johnson, late in the third round due to punches (TKO). Johnson faced

Cheick Kongo Cheick Kongo (born May 17, 1975) is a French mixed martial artist and former kickboxer who fights in the Heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2001, he has also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator. ...

at Bellator 161 on September 16, 2016. He lost via majority decision. One judge had it 28–28 (even), while the other two judges scored the bout 29–28 in favor of Kongo.

Kickboxing debut

Johnson made his professional kickboxing debut on April 7, 2017 at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix I 2017 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, being defeated by TKO (doctor stoppage) in round 1. If Johnson had won his bout against Lukasz Krupadziorow, he would have face Cătălin Moroșanu at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix II 2017 in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Absolute Championship Akhmat

He fought for the vacant ACA Heavyweight Championship against

Daniel Omielańczuk Daniel Omielańczuk (born August 31, 1982) is a Polish professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently competing in the Heavyweight (MMA), heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). A professional MMA c ...

at ACA 114: Omielańczuk vs. Johnson. He won the fight by KO in the first round, becoming the first opponent to knock him out in 36 fights. Johnson defended his title on April 23, 2021 at ACA 122 against Dmitry Poberezhets. He won the bout via TKO from ground and pound in the third round. Johnson defended his title against Mukhumat Vakhaev on November 18, 2021 at ACA 132: Johnson vs. Vakhaev. He won the bout after dropping Vakhaev and then finishing him on the ground at the end of the first round. Johnson was scheduled to make his third title defense against Salimgerey Rasulov at ACA 137 on March 6, 2022. After being unable to obtain a visa in time, Johnson was forced to pull out of the bout. Johnson was rescheduled against Salimgerey Rasulov for ACA 138 on March 27, 2022. He lost the bout and title after being knocked out in the first round. Johnson faced Evgeniy Goncharov on September 23, 2022 at ACA 145. He lost the bout via knockout at the end of the first round. In the Quarter-final of the 2023 ACA Heavyweight Grand Prix Johnson faced Anton Vyazigin on June 2, 2023 at ACA 158: Mokhnatkin vs Olenichev, losing the bout via unanimous decision. Johnson rebounded in a rematch against Denis Smoldarev on November 3, 2023 at ACA 165: Dakaev vs. Batista, knocking Smoldarev out twenty one seconds into the bout. Johnson faced Carlos Felipe on March 29, 2024 at ACA 173: Frolov vs. Yankovsky, winning the bout via split decision.

Personal life

Johnson has four daughters. Johnson used to train at Evolution MMA in Miami, FL. A gym owned by Head Coach Dan Monteleone. Johnson currently trains at Nashville MMA in Nashville, TN.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** KOTC heavyweight championship (one time) *

** ACA Heavyweight Championship (One time) ***Two successful title defenses

Kickboxing record

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Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

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Mixed martial arts record

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Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 16–5–1 (1) , Mukhumat Vakhaev , TKO (punches) , ACA 132 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:23 ,

, Belarus , , - , Win , align=center, 15–5–1 (1) , Dmitry Poberezhets , TKO (punches) , ACA 122 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:04 ,

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, KO (punch) , ACA 114 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:09 ,

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–5–1 (1) , Evgeniy Goncharov , Decision (unanimous) , ACA 97 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

, Russia , , - , NC , align=center, 13–4–1 (1) , Evgeniy Goncharov , NC (accidental eye poke) , ACA 96 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:50 ,

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4–1 , Denis Smoldarev , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , ACA 92 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:42 ,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 12–4–1 , D.J. Linderman , Decision (unanimous) , Final Fight Championship 34 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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, Decision (majority) , Bellator 161 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Cedar Park, Texas Cedar Park is a city and a suburb of Austin, Texas, Austin in the U.S. state of Texas, approximately northwest of the center of Austin. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 77,595, and in 2022 ...

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Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

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Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

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, Philippines , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Derrick Lewis , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 46 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Tony 1986 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Bellator male fighters SUPERKOMBAT kickboxers African-American mixed martial artists