Anthony Johnson: “I’m not ready for GSP yet”

February 9, 2009 by Will in News, UFC, UFC with 1 Comment

: Johnson (R)

Anthony Johnson may be looking to face stiffer competition with his win over Luigi Fioravanti at UFC Fight Night 17, but he is not looking ahead to a fight against Welterweight champion Georges St.Pierre. The always humble Johnson said in a new interview that he does not feel he could compete with the champion just yet.

Yahoo!Sports Steve Cofield interviewed Johnson after his impressive win at UFC Fight Night 17 on ESPN Radio and asked him about a potential fight with St.Pierre.

“I’m not ready for GSP yet. His level is so much higher than mine,” Johnson told Cofield and co-host Ariel Helwani. “And I’m smart enough to realize that. GSP was at my level some point. I want to get to the level that he’s at now and it takes time.”

Johnson in his post fight interview with Joe Rogan said he did not feel he had his best performance, but feels he will improve.

“I just gotta keep improving until I know that if I end up in a certain situations I know that I can feel comfortable.”

I interviewed Johnson in the past and he told me during the interview where he was quoted as saying “I can hang with GSP”, was taken out of context and was not what he actually said. He said that he actually said he felt in a few years he could hang with him and was humble about the situation.

While Johnson is not on St.Pierre’s level yet, it appears it is just a matter of time. His striking and accuracy has improved with the help of Cung Le and it showed in his fight against Kevin Burns and in his fight on Saturday night.

It appears that Johnson is not ready for St.Pierre now, but will be in the future if he keeps improving all around like he is doing right now.