Michael ‘The Menace’ Johnson went viral at yet another UFC press conference.
The lightweight veteran has never been afraid to speak his mind ahead of his upcoming fights, most notably against Justin Gaethje in 2017, where Johnson said he was going to eat the WSOF champion for dinner at the biggest UFC press conference of the year.
Of course, Johnson’s words have backfired from time to time, like they did in his competitive second-round TKO defeat to Gaethje.
With previous wins over Tony Ferguson, Edson Barboza, and a retiring Dustin Poirier, who the UFC 318 card was built around, Johnson continues to talk a big game ahead of his next fight against Mexican star Daniel Zellhuber.
Johnson and Zellhuber had an awkward exchange of words that might have ended up stealing the show.
Michael Johnson says ‘fan’ Daniel Zellhuber has ‘obsession’ over him
Johnson wasn’t a fan of how his matchup with Zellhuber came about, revealing at media day that Zellhuber had posted videos of Johnson getting knocked out on social media in an effort to fight him.
Johnson, a 30-fight UFC veteran, has six times the experience of the 26-year-old Zellhuber.
“I’m looking forward to showing this young buck some lessons in here,” Johnson said at the UFC 318 press conference.
“He’s young, but he’s a little bit too cocky and he’s running his mouth too much.
“This is the funny thing, he’s been here for almost 30 fights…” Zellhuber started saying.
“Who are you?” Johnson cut him off.
“How many fights you got? 3-4 fights in UFC, relax,” Johnson said.
“I’m talking s— and you’re in your corner, so it works. Shut the f— up and show up,” Zellhuber responded.
“I think you’re just trying to talk your way into a fight. You’re probably a fan of mine, probably grew up watching me fight,” Johnson said after saying he didn’t understand the Mexican.
“Actually, I grew up watching him fight,” Zellhuber admitted being a fan of Johnson.
“That’s your obsession with me. I think it’s a little gay but it’s okay,” Johnson said as the crowd exclaimed.
UFC fans react to Michael Johnson’s latest trash talk
Some revere Johnson as the UFC’s ‘worst trash talker‘ for how he talked about eating things ‘whole’ in front of Justin Gaethje or how he called his former foe ‘inbred’.
How did the fans take to Johnson’s latest comments towards Zellhuber?
“You wouldn’t ever think the way MJ talks that he has a 23-19 record,” a fan wrote on X.
“Mj is going to lose, making fun of someone for not being able to speak a new language correctly is cornball s—,” another fan chimed in.
“Dumbest thing to say. Bro is terrible at trash talk,” another fan wrote.
“Dustin should be ashamed he got knocked out cold by this guy,” a fan said.
Johnson is coming off back-to-back wins over Darrius Flowers and Ottman Azaitar. A third-straight win over Zellhuber could spell career resurgence for the 39-year-old while a loss would turn his 15-15 UFC record into a losing record.