The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

GIOVANNI Johnson continues a successful training period in Thailand with another win in his latest Muay Thai bout.

Johnson won via decision in his latest bout and now has five wins in professional fights during this current period training out of True 8 Muay Thai Gym in Surat Thani, Thailand.

Johnson discussed the experience of the five-round bout - which he considered a learning experience - via Instagram.

“Five rounds of learning. I won via decision, and as much as I love that W, I walked away from this fight with so much more than just that. I was able to learn that much more about myself.

“By the fifth round, both of us had visibly lost a good much of steam. My corner was calling for me to push forward, his corner was calling for the same. I pushed he retreated. He pushed I retreated. The fight went back and forth all the way to the end.”

He previously trained in Thailand in 2017 as an amateur, but has now returned at the professional level and has already displayed his diverse skillset with several wins.

His most recent win was a bout where he overcame several difficulties early on against a very skilled opponent.

“This was a tough fight. Hadn’t had a fight that went back and forth like that in quite some time. My opponent was much younger, much faster, and, believe it or not, came with a lot more fights under his belt. I knew that my opponent was going to be a stud just from the way my instructors were behaving. There was an air of uncertainty that I’ve not been accustomed to. As soon as the first round started, I knew why he was extremely good,” Johnson sai. “My instructions were to use the first two rounds to gauge my opponent. His legs kicks were fast and heavy. He was also doing a great job of throwing it while I was heavy on my front leg. His hands were nothing to scoff at, either.

“Had my head snapping back enough times during that fight. I started opening up in the third, really finding a home for the shots that I was throwing. He was able to check the kicks down low, so I started throwing them up top. Those landed more frequently, so I started piling them on. I was still having problems reacting to his leg kicks even though I was able to check more of them. Part of that stemmed from me not creating angles, and just standing in from of him.”

To follow his Thailand journey, you can follow him on Instagram @mofiremma242 and his Facebook page @Giovanni “Mofire” Errisson-Johnson MMA Fighter.

Following his training in Thailand, Johnson said he looks forward to gaining notoriety in the United States and fighting under established promotions in the future.