“The Menace” is beaten — but far from broken.

Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran Michael Johnson suffered a brutal knockout loss to Drew Dober at UFC 326 earlier this month (Sat., March 7, 2026) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights).

The 32-fight UFC veteran was immediately transported to the hospital following the knockout, and until now, had remained silent on the setback.

“Last week was a tough pill to swallow,” Johnson said in an Instagram video. “Damn, everything was going so good — but I guess that’s when the worst happens, right? When things are going too good.”

Johnson didn’t make excuses for the loss, giving full credit to his opponent.

“It was no fluke. It was no lucky punch or no bullshit like that. He caught me right on the f—king chin,” Johnson said. “I just made a small mistake and got a little too comfortable in there and I paid the price.”

“Drew fought a good fight,” he continued. “He stayed patient and took the little damage I was giving him. I didn’t fight my fight at all. Maybe my mind was going a million places. Maybe it was the back-to-back camps, the weight cuts — who knows? But at the end of the day, Michael Johnson went in there and lost.”

Despite the setback, Johnson made it clear he isn’t going anywhere.

“We’ve lost some battles, but we’re in it for the war,” Johnson said. “I’m not f—king leaving. I’m not leaving anytime soon.”

“I’m a winner, and I’m going to win,” he added. “I want a lot of the rematches I’ve lost. I want the Gaethje rematch. I definitely want Dober again — I just made a small mistake. In this game, small mistakes lead to huge consequences. I was a little emo, a little depressed, a little ashamed, but now we’re back and ready to get to work.”

For what it’s worth, Johnson vs. Dober was surrounded by controversy before the fight even happened. In the hours leading up to the bout, Dober went from a +115 betting underdog to nearly a 2-1 favorite, which led several sportsbooks, including FanDuel, to pull the fight from their platforms. DraftKings Sportsbook also removed all prop bets and left only the moneyline available — in the end, nothing happened because, according to UFC CEO Dana White, it had zero legitimacy.

The loss snapped Johnson’s three-fight win streak, which included victories over Daniel Zellhuber, Ottman Azaitar, and Darrius Flowers.

Now sitting at 24-20, the 39-year-old owns 16 losses inside the promotion — the second-most in UFC history — but, according to him, he’s not slowing down anytime soon.

If he gets his wish, a rematch with Beneil Dariush could be on deck later this year — a fight many still consider a robbery.