Lavar Johnson (James Law/HeavyMMA)
Heavyweights booked for May clash in New Jersey
Less than two weeks after a giant knockout for one, and only a few days after a big KO for the other, two heavyweights have been booked for the UFC’s next card on the Fox network.
Pat Barry and Lavar Johnson will meet at UFC on Fox 3, which is scheduled for May 5 in East Rutherford, N.J. The UFC announced the fight early Wednesday. UFC on Fox: Diaz vs. Miller will take place at the Izod Center and will be the promotion’s first visit to the Garden State since UFC 128 last March.
Barry (7-4, 4-4 UFC) snapped a two-fight skid last month with a vicious knockout of Christian Morecraft at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller in Nashville, Tenn. The Fight of the Night win put him back in the victory column after successive losses to Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve.
The fight will also continue Barry’s streak of fighting heavyweights who seem to tower over him. At 5-foot-11, Barry is one of the heavyweight division’s smallest fighters. Kongo is 6-4, Struve a UFC record height of 6-11 and Morecraft 6-6 – an average of eight inches of height advantage over Barry. Johnson is 6-foot-4.
Johnson (16-5, 1-0 UFC) made crossed over from Strikeforce to make his UFC debut against Joey Beltran last Saturday at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis. And he wasted little time introducing himself to the UFC’s heavyweight division. Johnson earned a $65,000 Knockout of the Night bonus with a first-round stoppage of Beltran, a win that also chased his opponent from the UFC.
Fourteen of Johnson’s 16 wins now have come by knockout – and the American Kickboxing Academy product has never gone to a decision. But four of his five losses have come by submission, including both his Strikeforce fights in 2011 to Shane del Rosario and Shawn Jordan.
UFC on Fox 3 will feature a main event lightweight fight between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, a fight that was recently booked for five rounds on the Fox network. The Barry-Johnson fight is expected to air on the Fox-televised main card.