Rising Phenom

Fighter profile of Adam Johnson by Rain Thunder

Elite Build is a private gym in New York owned by MMATycoon's veteran manager Mister Worldwide. This gym is home to these rising figures like Micheal Alvarez, Osvaldo Gomez or Roger Pott. It is also home to a prospect named Adam Johnson, a guy which is said said by his coaches to have an incredible amount of potential, but is still yet to have a professional MMA fight.

Ruben Aguirre (2nd degree BJJ Black Belt, 2 time No-Gi Absolute World Champion, Elite Build grappling coach) - To me, Adam has this mysterious element. When he came to our gym, he said that he has never had any martial arts experience before, and joined our beginners class. As soon as he showed up, he has instantly paid for 3 months of training, bought his mma shorts, mouthpiece and started training. It caught my eye that he was very silent, had white hair and white beard, and his eyes were pitch black, almost as of a bug. He is small, as he is fighting in the Bantamweight division, but for me, there was something mystical about him, I can't explain it. He seemed like not a guy to pick on, like a man that saw a lot in life and has experienced a lot. His eyes were somehow telling me that he is kind of depressed, or lonely, and at the same time had strong willpower and that deadly look. He took his shirt off and proceeded to the gym, and this was the first time I saw his body. He seemed very athletic, but that wasn't what caught my eye the most. He had scars, a huge one on his back and a smaller one on his forearm. He sat down, and I could see that the inner thigh was burned, the skin was rough in there. Also, he had a White Pride tattoo on his chest - I didn't like that, I thought that it's gonna be another guy trying to show his ego around here.

The training began, we warmed up and did some calisthenics, and I saw that he is on a great fitness level. Then, it was time for some wrestling sparring and I couldn't believe what I saw back then. He started a round against Dragomir Turgulan, a Welterweight with a quite decent level in Wrestling, instantly charged at him, tilted Dragomir up with raw power, swung him over his head and tossed him to the mat. Dragomir got a bit angry though, got up and started engaging, again. Turgulan's takedown attempt was countered violently as Adam viciously drove Turgulan to the mat, straight into side control. During the next round, Adam wrestled against Roger Pott, a light heavyweight, and managed to keep up with Roger's strenght, as well as to land a trip takedown into Pott's guard. During the rounds, Adam seemed incredibly calm, focused and confident. Extremely confident. Something you don't see in a no martial arts experience Bantamweights while wrestling against a Light Heavyweight. After the training, I took to Adam to talk to him for a bit. I told him that he needs to go to the experienced class, and work with more advanced wrestlers, and also asked him if he really hasn't done any martial arts in the past. He spoke just a few words, and just assured that he has never trained in Martial Arts. He said it so convincingly that I understood that his past has to stay with him, and I didn't ask him about his scars or burns.

The next day he show up in the advanced wrestling class, and we have been working with him since. He seems to be a really good learner, a natural, and has just achieved his BJJ Purple Belt under my watch. Doesn't speak a lot, just goes out there and does his job at his finest. We also tried participating in TWGC with him, but got matched up against a much more skilled opponent, yet only lost by decision. Adam has now signed with Rehab FC, and I expect a lot from him. He's a demon in that cage, and I believe that Adam will go far with his career.

Article views: 102
» Donate to this author