Anthony Johnson looked dominant in taking a first-round TKO victory over Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 6 tonight, but the stoppage was a source of some controversy. Johnson landed a huge head kick that floored Brenneman and earned a refereed stoppage from Mario Yamasaki right away, but Brenneman was definitely still awake and alert after the kick. Johnson picked up the victory at 2:49 of the first.
Johnson came in looking way bigger than the 171 pounds he weighed in at the day before. Johnson looked to strike early, and Brenneman went for the takedown. Johnson pancaked him though, and landed some shots to Charlie’s midsection. Johnson had Brenneman’s head pinned down and landed a few hard shots, then a couple of knees to the body. Johnson spun around to the back, and Brenneman rolled into guard and looked for an arm-in guillotine.
Johnson then glanced a head kick that stunned Brenneman, then followed up with another one that put Brenneman down on his back. It looked devastating and the ref stepped in to stop it, but Brenneman was fully alert and awake. In retrospect it wasn’t a good stoppage.
Brenneman entered this bout coming off the biggest win of his career over Rick Story at UFC on Versus 4. He was a last-minute replacement for Nate Marquardt. Johnson returned from a long layoff due to a knee injury at UFC Fight Night 24, where he took an easy unanimous decision win over Dan Hardy. He had won three of his last four bouts entering this contest.
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