In the UFC, fighters must be prepared for anything. That includes a sudden change of opponent and another change back to their original opponent.
For Anthony Johnson, such is the case.
Johnson was initially scheduled to face off against Jimi Manuwa but the UFC apparently had to make changes because Manuwa was receiving treatment for his injured knee.
With Manuwa’s condition in question, Jan Blachowicz was scheduled to fight Johnson.
However, the set tiff was restored to the original plan once more when Manuway got medical clearance to face off against 'Rumble'.
Johnson is aching to rebound from a third-round submission loss to Daniel Cormier at UFC 187 while Manuwa is coming off unanimous decision win over Blachowicz in April, the same man he is replacing.
Manuway is ranked 7th while Blachowicz is ranked 12th.
Apparently the mix up came because there were questions on whether Manuway would be able to commit in time for the event slated for September 5.
With that settled, Johnson gets a higher-ranked opponent in Manuway. Blachowicz on the other hand will still be competing at UFC 191, though his opponent has yet to be announced.
Despite losing last time, Johnson has won nine of his last 10 matches with six knockouts. Johnson actually had a chance to win against Cormier until the latter resorted to wrestling moves to wear him down.
Cormier eventually won the match after applying a rear naked choke in the third round.
Manuwa, 15-1, will try to follow up his previous win over Blachowicz at UFC Fight Night 64. His lone loss was against Alexander Gustaffson.
Heading into UFC 191 however, chances are that the Johnson vs. Manuwa fight will not go the distance. This is attributed to the fact that both fighters have been known to go for the quick knockout based on their previous matches.
26 of their combined 37 matches were decided by KO and from the looks of it, both will be looking to end the match early.
With the recent changes, UFC 191 will now have the following matches aside from the showdown between Johnson and Manuwa:
- Champ Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson – for flyweight title
- Alex Chambers vs. Paige VanZant
- John Lineker vs. Francisco Rivera
- Nazareno Malegarie vs. Joaquim Silva
- Jan Blachowicz vs. TBA
UFC 191 happens on September 5 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
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