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A resurrected Anthony Johnson hopes to be crying after UFC 187

LAS VEGAS – It's been eight years since Morris Johnson died following a valiant fight with cancer, yet he's never far from his grandson's thoughts or heart.

Morris was on Anthony Johnson's mind as much as Daniel Cormier was as he made the five-hour flight from Florida to Las Vegas, where on Saturday he'll face Cormier in the co-main event of UFC 187 for the light heavyweight championship.

Johnson was adopted by his grandparents when he was just 2 years old. He's never been fully certain of the circumstances of the adoption, but the bond he forged with his grandfather has never been broken.

His most difficult task on Saturday might just be keeping his emotions in check if he defeats Cormier to win the light heavyweight belt.

This is one of the UFC's signature divisions, a title held by legends like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, and recently stripped from Jon Jones, arguably the greatest fighter in the history of the sport.

But it wouldn't be so much the personal glory of claiming such a high-profile crown that would leave Johnson battling off the tears. Rather, it would be the thought about his grandfather and all the lessons he learned from the tough old man.

Anthony Johnson, left, throws a punch during his win over Alexander Gustafsson in January. (Getty)
Anthony Johnson, left, throws a punch during his win over Alexander Gustafsson in January. (Getty)

"He's the guy who put me in sports and kept me out of trouble and off the streets and out of jail," Johnson said. "I think of him every day. I just got off the plane and I was thinking of him on the flight over here. I was looking at pictures of me and him as I was growing up. I just think of the things he said to me as a kid and I use those words as motivation. The fact that he isn't here, it makes me want to fight even harder to make him proud.

"I think of him so much when I have a fight because he did get me into sports in the first place. My life would be so different if it weren't for him. Who knows where I'd be now? This will be the first championship [I'll be shooting for] where he's not around. If I win it, it's going to be pretty emotional. He's going to be right there in my heart and on my mind."

It's been an amazing journey for Johnson, who early on in his UFC career showed championship-level talent. But he didn't have a championship-level attitude and became something of a laughingstock in the MMA community for his inability to make weight.

It eventually got him cut, which turned out to be a good thing.

He was supposed to face Vitor Belfort in a middleweight bout at UFC 142 in Brazil, but his body shut down during the weight cut. He was told he couldn't cut any more weight, and weighed in at 197 pounds, 11 pounds too much.

When he was lost, he was summarily cut, dispatched along with the no-hopers who routinely lose their jobs after a loss.

Johnson was far from a no-hoper, but he'd exhausted everyone's patience.

Being told he wasn't good enough stung, but Johnson says he wouldn't be preparing to face Cormier for the championship were it not for UFC management's decision to dump him after the 2012 loss to Belfort.

"The minute I got that news, I was a different person," Johnson said. "It would take me a while to prove that, but when I got cut, I learned how easily and quickly everything I've worked so hard for could be taken away. It was gone in a blink of an eye. I took what I had for granted, and getting cut immediately made me realize that was a big mistake."

The loss to Belfort is the last defeat on his record. After getting cut, he went 6-0 in various small promotions, before earning a call back to the UFC.

And when he returned, he was a different man: more dedicated, aware of how tenuous life at the top can be.

In his return, he routed Phil Davis, an elite wrestler, at UFC 172, and there was instantly talk that he could be the man to end Jones' long reign as UFC champion.

Johnson, though, didn't want to hear it.

When he was questioned about the possibility of a fight with Jones, he shook his head no and refused to discuss it. Few realized it at the time, but it was the sign of his growth.

"I knew I wasn't ready – yet," Johnson said of himself after the win over Davis. "I wasn't far, but I knew I wasn't ready. Physically, mentally, I just knew I wasn't there at the moment. Getting cut definitely lit a fire under me. And it led me to a greater understanding of what I needed to do to become the fighter I believed I could be.

"It would be a process. I always believed I had the ability [to win the championship], but I had to take it step-by-step and do the right things and build myself back. I wasn't going to rush it just for ego's sake."

He knocked out Alexander Gustafsson in the first round in Stockholm, Sweden, in January to earn the title shot against Jones. When Jones was suspended after being involved in an alleged hit-and-run accident, the opponent changed to Cormier.

It was no big deal to Johnson, who had come to learn that he had to focus on things that he could control and not worry about things that were out of his hands.

It's led him to the precipice of a title, and, potentially, a boatload of tears. If he wins, it's going to be hard to contain himself, as images of his life with his grandfather are likely going to go flying past in his mind's eye.

"I am the person I am today because of [my grandfather]," Johnson said. "If they put that belt on me, I know he's going to be right there with me. I know it."

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