Michael Johnson finished his second fight of 2024, at UFC Tampa, with a bang. The former lightweight contender faced Ottman Azaitar at UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Buckle, and he made sure that he let everyone know that he is now looking to get into the race for the title. All it took him was just two minutes into the second round to knock out Azaitar with a series of punches.

With this, Johnson, who has been under contract with the UFC since 2010, scored his third victory in his last five fights. His last win came against Darrius Flowers earlier this year at UFC Fight Night 236 in February, a fight that came almost a year after ‘The Menace’ had been brutally knocked out by Carlos Diego Ferreira in May 2023.

With a pro MMA record of 23-19-0, there’s no denying that Johnson has never been able to maintain his dominance for long. This statistic can be perfectly defined by the fact that he has an equal amount of wins and losses in his 30-fight UFC career so far. ‘The Menace’ has won a total of 15 fights, while also losing 15 to even things out. This has made it difficult for him to make his way to the top 10 rankings.

But finally seeing him on a two-fight win streak, fans couldn’t help but share their reaction to the amazing knockout. Maybe this win can be a new beginning for the fighter who has shown his potential time and again inside the Octagon. So fans surely loved to get the opportunity to praise him, and also named his next opponent in the UFC.

‘Early Stoppage’ and ‘Khabib fight’ calls for Michael Johnson after UFC Tampa win

As soon as the videos of Johnson’s knockout hit the internet, the comments were flooded with reactions praising the fighter. But many of them even named his future opponent. So who is it? Well, it’s none other than Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Demanding a fight with the reigning lightweight champion, or a returning Dagestani, the fans showed their support for Johnson in the comments as they wrote, “MJ beats Islam and Khabib,” “beats Islam,” and “MJ would beat Islam.”

Johnson has fought the cream of the crop during his UFC run. At lightweight he’s fought Khabib, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Nate Diaz among others. In typical Johnson fashion, he was the first to KO Poirier clean at lightweight in the UFC. But he lost out against the others. Speaking of these fights to Helen Yee, he recently named his toughest opponent said, “It’s gotta be Khabib… It was rough. I took that fight on like two or three weeks’ notice, which people really don’t talk about, which is fine, but I just wasn’t that prepared to fight somebody of that caliber.”

With a career that has a series of alternate wins and losses, Johnson has earned a reputation for being like a coin, with a win or a loss being a 50% chance for the fighter, unlike many others in the UFC who walk in as clear favorites. Pointing out the same thing, some users wrote, “Life is like Michael Johnson; you never know what you’re gonna get,” “The duality of Michael Johnson, “The coin landed on heads today!” and “You NEVER know what you’re gonna get with Michael Johnson 🤣. But hell, it seems like he’s going on a decent little run here 👀.”

However, not everyone sang praise for the fighter. Some other fans were of the belief that the referee put a premature stop to the fight. If he hadn’t, maybe it would’ve been Ottman Azaitar who won the fight instead. Pointing it out, they wrote, “Early Stoppage,” Herb Dean fault,” and “Stopped too soon.” Well, it surely looks like a majority of the fans are loving to see ‘The Menace’ finally be on a winning streak. But what do you think? Will he be able to keep it up? Let us know in the comments.