In what would be a cruel twist of fate, 'Ragin' Kajan Johnson's first UFC bout could also be the last fight of his career.
Johnson, a 30-year-old with ties to Prince George, was on the UFC 174 card Saturday night in Vancouver. His match at Rogers Arena against Tae Hyun Bang was a dream come true because he had been working for years to get a shot at an Ultimate Fighting Championship appearance.
Johnson and Bang were dead-even on the scorecards through two rounds but, in the third, Johnson took a hard right hand to the head and was knocked out.
Johnson's previous fight, part of the reality TV show Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia, also ended with him on the wrong end of a knockout blow, that one delivered by Chad Laprise in a semifinal contest.
Obviously, two KOs in a row isn't good news for Johnson, who is now wondering whether his days as a mixed martial arts fighter are at an end.
"I've got knocked out twice now in the last six months, which is extremely disheartening and very, very dangerous for a brain," said Johnson, a 2002 graduate of Prince George secondary school who trains at the renowned Tristar Gym in Montreal. "If you get knocked out two times in a row, that's usually the death of a career. Right now, I'm going to rest my brain for a bit and then I'm going to go back and start fixing my technique holes that have been exposed in my last couple fights. I won't really know what's going to happen until I start sparring again. If I start sparring and my chin is gone - which is what happens to a lot of fighters, they get multiple knockouts and aren't able to take a shot anymore - so if that's what happens to me, then I'm going to hang it up. But, if I've still got a chin, I'm going to keep going and I will take a fight probably sometime next year."
Johnson earned his UFC invitation based on how well he performed on Ultimate Fighter Nations, which was filmed outside of Quebec City last fall and winter and was broadcast on Sportsnet 360 from January to April.
On Saturday, with friends and family members in the crowd and a pay-per-view audience watching in homes across North America, Johnson was relatively happy with his first two rounds against Bang. He was dazed by a left hook from Bang in the opener but landed some of his own shots in the second. Johnson said he wanted to keep Bang on the canvas and do some damage there but Bang proved adept at fending off his efforts.
Then came the third.
"I felt good and all of a sudden I woke up on my back, pretty much," Johnson said. "I threw a head kick and he ended up just eating the head kick because he's super-tough and throwing a huge overhand right while I was on one foot. You can't take a punch when you're on one foot - it's pretty much impossible, and he caught me on the button and I went down. The ref stopped the fight and that was it."
Johnson now has a 19-11-1 mark as an MMA fighter. Bang, who was making his second UFC appearance and picked up his first victory, improved to 17-8 overall.
In a piece of good news for Johnson, the battle with Bang was chosen as fight of the night and that resulted in each man receiving $50,000.
"It softens the blow a little bit but I'd still rather win and get no money, personally," said Johnson, who was introduced to his sport during his teen years in Prince George.
"I'll most likely invest as much [of the winnings] as I can," he added. "I have a clothing line that I've been working on for a while. It's called Rajin Inc., so a lot of the money is going to go into that. You never know how long this career is going to be so any money that you get - at least until you're worth Georges St-Pierre money - you've got to be really careful with what you're doing and how you're spending your money."
Despite his loss, making it to the UFC stands as a milestone moment for Johnson.
"It just felt like everything coming to fruition, really," he said. "It was a long road getting there and it felt really good. It felt amazing."
Johnson, who is still in Vancouver, is heading back to Prince George this week. He'll be here Thursday for a speaking engagement with a local First Nations group.
