UFC 326 concluded last night at the T-Mobile Arena, and out of the 12 bouts featured on the card, only four ended in a finish. The remaining fights went the distance, which surprised many, given the kind of fight card that was headlined by a BMF title fight. With that said, a lightweight bout on the night ended via KO, sending a veteran to the hospital.

The veteran in question is Michael Johnson, who landed leg kicks and punch combinations in round 1, likely taking the first round. However, his opponent, Drew Dober, landed a cracking left hand in the second round that knocked out ‘The Menace’, forcing the referee to stop the fight immediately. As a result, with the new fighter safety rules, the promotion had to send the veteran lightweight to the hospital for further check-ups.

MMA Mania reported that officials immediately transferred Michael Johnson to a local hospital for precautionary CT scans of his head, a common procedure after a brutal knockout loss.

The promotion was expected to send Johnson to the hospital after such a devastating finish. However, the knockout itself was not the only reason for medical attention. The Florida veteran has competed in the UFC for 16 years and has taken part in a total of 32 fights, which represents a significant amount of cage time. Because of that long career, doctors will also check ‘MJ’ for various concussion-related concerns.

Furthermore, Michael Johnson had been on a solid run before facing Drew Dober at UFC 326. He had won four of his last five fights and was experiencing a late-career resurgence. However, the loss to the Colorado native has now derailed plans to jump the ranks in the lightweight division. ‘The Menace’ will now have to regroup and recover before taking his next fight.

While the night did not go as Johnson expected, it ended on a positive note for Drew Dober. In the post-fight interview, Dober explained how he found the $100K bonus-winning left hand that completely shut the lights out on the veteran.

Drew Dober details how he dismantled Michael Johnson at UFC 326

Michael Johnson entered the bout with a win in his previous fight against Kyle Prepolec, and many favored his sharp striking against a slugger like Dober. However, the 37-year-old Colorado native relied on patience and eventually found the perfect opening in the second round.

“There’s a ton of tape on me, and I’m an enthusiastic, over-zealous person,” Dober told Megan Olivi during a backstage interview. “So I think Michael Johnson was waiting for me to come out guns blazing. So I had to pull back a little bit, take my time, be more patient. In the second round, I started taking advantage of those reads and I was able to find that left hand,” he added.

For context, Dober has already surpassed Dustin Poirier for the most knockouts in the UFC lightweight division, and with the win over Johnson, he extended that record by earning his 11th knockout at lightweight division.

That said, with Michael Johnson now in recovery mode and Drew Dober celebrating the victory, what do you think should be the next move for both fighters after UFC 326? Let us know in the comments section below.