Michael Julian Johnson[4] (born June 4, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist.

Johnson later received a full scholarship to play football at Central Methodist University, but transferred after one year to Meramec Community College, where he was one of the top NJCAA wrestlers in the country.

[6] Johnson's first fight took place on the debut episode of the season, where he faced unbeaten Pablo Garza.

[9] In the second episode, both St-Pierre and Koscheck had Johnson at the top of their lists when it came time to select fighters.

After some early striking exchanges in the first round, Wilkinson was able to take Johnson down and utilize ground-and-pound punches and elbows.

In the second round, Johnson landed an early superman punch, as well as a takedown.

After takedowns were achieved by both men, Johnson stuffed a final attempt and took the second round on the judges' scorecards.

In the sudden victory round, Johnson attacked quickly, which allowed him to end the fight via a rear-naked choke.

[12] Johnson won by unanimous decision after two rounds, earning himself a spot in the semi-finals.

[13] In the final round, Johnson faced the one remaining Team Koscheck member, Nam Phan.

The consensus after the fight was that Johnson won the opening round, and Phan the second.

Johnson faced Edward Faaloloto on June 26, 2011, at UFC on Versus 4[17] and won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Johnson faced Tony Ferguson on May 5, 2012, at UFC on Fox 3, replacing an injured Thiago Tavares.

Johnson faced Reza Madadi on April 6, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 9.

Johnson faced Joe Lauzon on August 17, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 26.

Due to an injury to Ross Pearson, Johnson stepped in to face Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight Night 37.

[32] It was later revealed, that Johnson was pulled from the bout and would not compete, during the remainder of 2014 his arrest in Palm Beach County, Florida in April 2014.

[33] Johnson faced Edson Barboza on February 22, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 61.

[35] A bout with Benson Henderson was initially linked as the event headliner for The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale on July 12, 2015.

[36] Although never officially announced by the UFC, the bout between Henderson and Johnson will not take place at this event.

[48] Johnson won the fight via knockout early in the first round with a sharp two-punch combination followed by ground and pound.

[52] Johnson faced former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje on July 7, 2017, in the main event at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale.

[55] Johnson faced Darren Elkins in a featherweight bout on January 14, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Stephens vs.

[68] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic event, Johnson was rescheduled to face Khama Worthy at UFC 249.

[71] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date.

[77] However, the bout was pushed back, one week to UFC on ESPN: Błachowicz vs. Rakić, for unknown reasons.

[79][80] Johnson faced Jamie Mullarkey on July 9, 2022, at UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs.