Charles Johnson claims he still had more than five minutes left in his fight when he flipped the switch to score an upset win in the third round against Joshua Vann at UFC Denver.
Johnson faced Vann on Saturday in a featured prelim at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver, and although things didn’t look good for Johnson early on, the fight was otherwise evenly scored by the judges, but “Inner G” came back from behind in the final round to knock Vann out just 20 seconds into the bout.
Johnson believes he was never completely out of the fight, but he credits his coach for flipping a switch in his mind before the third round. When Justin Hardy asked him to go all out for five minutes, the former Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champion knew he had that and more. Johnson also believes he’s the best five-round flyweight fighter in the world, but hasn’t had a chance to show it yet.
“I never blacked out. I never blacked out. I just flowed,” Johnson told reporters at his post-fight press conference. “But in the third round, it was time to flip the switch. Coach said, ‘Time. Five minutes of training. Give me five minutes of your time.’ Five minutes is rubbish. I ran cross country in college. I ran 12 miles every day in college. Five minutes is rubbish, but it’s a warm-up. It’s not even a warm-up. It’s like, ‘Five minutes? Coach, I have five minutes,’ I’m the best five-round flyweight in the world. They don’t see that because I’m in this three-round format.”
Johnson’s knockout win over Vann marked his third straight victory in six months and came off a three-fight slump. Johnson improves to 5-4 in the promotion and is looking to crack the top 15 in the flyweight division.
“Hopefully, we can get into the rankings. This is our third straight win.” [No.]
The 14- and 15-year-olds have three bouts in three years with the promotion. Sumo Daiji has not won since 2021. [David] Dvorak is on a three-fight losing streak. Let’s get some guys who have worked hard like me and fought anyone. [Allan] Nascimento vs. [Jafel
Filho] – They’re fighting. One of them will get the position. I think the guys are trying to move up. Mick Maynard, there’s a lot of talent in this division. This is the best division in the world. He’s doing a hell of a job trying to keep everything in order.”
