Kajan Johnson has been one of the most popular and respected mixed martial artists in Canada for years, and on the premiere episode of TUF Nations he was finally introduced to MMA fans on a grand scale.
Johnson submitted Team Australia’s Brendan O’Reilly in the first bout of the season to advance to the welterweight seminfinals.
TUF Nations recap: Watch Johnson vs. O’Reilly
The 29-year-old hadn’t fought in more than two years due to various injuries and admittedly was nervous heading into the bout. When he sunk in a rear-naked choke, forcing O’Reilly to tap out, he felt a great sense of relief considering it was his first win since October 2011.
“I don’t know exactly what went through my mind, but I was definitely relieved,” Johnson told Sportsnet. “It was kind of an expected relief because I expecting to win.”
Despite the long layoff between fights, Johnson (19-10-1) felt fresh in the cage.
“I didn’t feel the rust at all to tell you the truth. Maybe if he had put me in some different situations I would have felt the rust [but] I got right back in the zone,” Johnson explained. “I was happy, I was smiling and everything went perfectly.”
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch TUF Nations every Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST on Sportsnet 360 and visit sportsnet.ca for weekly previews, recaps and blogs
Johnson credits his coaches — Patrick Cote, Kru Ash, Fabio Holanda and David Zilberman — for putting together an intelligent game plan for an opponent he didn’t know much about.
“All I knew [about O’Reilly] is what my coaches told me,” Johnson said. “They did their research and they said he was going to do exactly what he did, which was amazing for me. I wasn’t expecting him to be quite so strong, but we knew he was going to come out, throw some hooks and shoot for a takedown. I really like that style of opponent as well — guys that are shorter and want to take me down and aren’t the greatest strikers. Although, seeing him hit pads he’s actually decent striker so it would have been fun to strike with him.”
Many fighters coming off extended layoffs prefer longer fights in their first bout back to get acclimated to the cage, but Johnson wasn’t of that same mindset.
“I wanted to get in and get out. I didn’t want it to last long at all,” Johnson said. “I would have liked to have finished him on the heel hook personally. You don’t want to end up having a big ass war [and risking injury]. I wanted to get in, get out clean and move on.”
Johnson, who has fought the likes of dangerous UFC stars Rory MacDonald and Josh Thomson among other tough veterans, added that the competition level in the house was on par with what he’s used to and maybe even a step above.
The Tristar Gym product is known for his outgoing personality, in addition to his MMA skills, and has received an outpouring of support since the episode aired.
“I was expecting to have a few haters but really I haven’t had one, so I’m really happy,” Johnson said with a laugh. “My social media of course is blowing right up, it’s pretty daunting actually, but I’m loving it.”
Prior to filming the show, Johnson sought the advice of friend and training partner Mike Ricci, who advanced to the finals of TUF 16.
“I had expectations that it would be the worst experience of my life and I’d end up hating everybody because everybody would be nuts because that’s what a lot of The Ultimate Fighter vets like Mike Ricci … had told me. Like, they hated it, worst experience of their life, they wouldn’t do it again, if they could go back they wouldn’t do it again.”
Overall, things in the house went well, according to Johnson and he got along with his teammates fine. He pointed to his time spent at the Tristar Gym as something that prepared him for the TUF house atmosphere, saying, “I did a one-year stint in the Tristar dorms, so that prepared me for living with all these crazy fighters.”
Johnson said even though Ricci didn’t necessarily enjoy his time on TUF 16, the Montreal native gave him some helpful advice before he left.
“He told me some really, really key things that stuck with me the whole time I was on the show, like really it’s all about you. No matter how much of a team it is in the beginning, everybody is still there for themselves and you have to realize that and not let it mess with you.”
Fans will have to tune in to the show each Wednesday to find out how far Johnson goes in the tournament, but regardless of the outcome he said being on the show “is the highest point in my career to date and it will be for quite some time I think.”
He added: “The amount of exposure you get off this show, like money can’t buy that. You can have five fights in the UFC and nobody knows who you are, but after the first episode of TUF everybody already knows who I am, especially because it’s Team Canada, the whole country is really watching us more than any other TUF [season].”
