Michael Johnson scored one of the biggest wins of his professional MMA career when he defeated Dustin Poirier by first round knockout at UFC Fight Night 94. However, there was some controversy following the fight when Johnson struck a pose with his arms extended out over Poirier, who was just regaining consciousness, Johnson then uttered the words “f*ck you” to Poirier.
Johnson recently spoke with the people at The MMA Hour to explain why he celebrated in the fashion he did after knocking out Poirier.
"I didn't think it was personal until I heard all the bullsh*t that he was saying about me really downgrading my skills, [saying] I'm an average fighter, I'm not great in this way…I mean, I get trash talking, but at the same time I've been around Dustin before. We've hung out, we've been in the same area, I mean, we live 20 minutes away from each other, so I thought that it was pretty much cool between me and Dustin. So for him to talk sh*t about me that just shows he's really fake, and I don't like that,” said Johnson.
Johnson also admits that he knows that what he did after knocking out his opponent was a source of controversy, he does not regret a thing.
"I said, ‘f*ck you' when he was out," Johnson said. "I mean, I'm not going to lie. Everybody heard what I said, and I was really emotional after the fight, but I don't regret what I did. I apologized to him after that, but at the same time, I felt disrespected. And you know, who's to say that I was in the wrong for doing what I did, you know. It's okay for him to talk trash, talk sh*t before the fight, and push me on my face at weigh-ins trying to poke my damn eye out, but I stand over here after I knocked him out, and now all of the sudden that's the bad thing to do. That's a little hypocritical."
Johnson will take on Khabib Nurmagomedov on November 12 at UFC 205.
