After four-year hiatus, Wade Johnson finally fighting for the right reasons
Four years ago, Wade Johnson decided he was done with MMA. After accepting a fight he had no business taking, Johnson was submitted in the first round by Jason Witt, the current UFC welterweight.
"I had a rib that was coming completely out of socket, and so every time I'd twist my body or try to punch or try to roll, it would come out and I'd have to try to push it back down," Johnson recalled.
The injury was causing immense pain, but the loss might have hurt even worse. Johnson decided he needed some time away from the sport.
"I had some injuries, and I kind of was fighting for the wrong reasons, so I stepped away for a while," Johnson said.
At the time, Johnson had enjoyed a few near misses with UFC invites, earning the promotion's interest with his impressive record but never finding himself in the right position to accept the offers.
"I've been called twice for UFC to fight on short notice, and I just wasn't ready," Johnson said. "I wasn't training right. My mind wasn't right. I was wanting to hunt, and I was wanting to eat whatever I wanted to. I wanted to drink a little bit, you know, and I missed my chance is what I felt.
"I'd actually had a chance to fight Mike Chandler when Will Brooks fought him for the belt, and my weight was a little heavy. I tried to do a catchweight at 165 with them, and they didn't take it. Will Brooks beat him in Bellator, but they called me for that fight and I wasn't ready, and I was tired of missing my opportunities, you know?"
Life has been much different the past four years. Johnson has worked at his maintenance job at the local steel mill in his Arkansas town. He also purchased a semi-truck and has launched his own trucking company. He's taken his son on hunting trips and spent the free time with him he didn't have before.
But the gym came calling again.
"I'd always talked about coming back – take a little break and just get my mind right," Johnson said. "I lost my last fight. I mean, I was hurt and should have dropped out, but I didn't, and I ended up losing, so then I just kept telling myself, 'I don't want to go out on a loss.'
"I just started training a little bit, and I don't know – I just started going back to the gym, and it was kind of a stress reliever again. I just felt, like, why I actually enjoy doing it. I actually started enjoying training again, and then my son, he's 10 now, and he's watched me fight for a long time, and he was excited to see me back and training, and so he was ready to watch me fight, too."
Johnson (11-2) makes his long-awaited return to action at Friday's CFFC 103 event, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & Casino in Tunica, Miss. He takes on Trevor Ollison (4-3) in a welterweight matchup.
While it's his first opponent in more than four years, Johnson said he hasn't spent too much time scouting his foe.
"I've watched a little bit of him, but I try not to overthink or analyze it," Johnson said. "If I'm doing it for somebody else, to mimic them, then I can pick them apart. But what happens when I do it for myself is I start training and waiting for certain things to happen that he's good at, and if it never happens, then I'm kind of in a stalemate, so I just like to come in and just fight, you know what I mean?
"My coaches will look at some stuff that is good to watch out for, but other than that, it's just hey, let's get in there and let's go."
Johnson doesn't know how far this comeback will take him. After all, the only two fighters to ever beat him both ended up in the UFC, so maybe he didn't miss his chance, after all. Still just 30, it's not impossible.
But for "The Hammer," it's not time to worry about that just yet. Right now, he's just ready for a good time.
"I'm here to have fun," Johnson said. "The way I feel right now, I don't give a sh*t if it's for free, you know? I'm just ready to step back in there and just show people that I am still as good as I was."
