Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson showed that he was not going down without a fight.
On Sunday, June 6, the former NFL star stepped into the ring with MMA fighter Brian Maxwell at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, debuting on the undercard of the highly anticipated Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul boxing match. For his first boxing match, viewers were amazed to see how well Johnson was able to hold it down. It wasn’t until the final round of the four-round exhibition that he was taken down by his opponent with a swift right-hand punch, but Johnson got up almost immediately and finished the round on his feet.
Despite losing, Johnson was a good sport and even followed up his defeat with a few positive messages. The first one he shared after the match. He said, “I had fun. I had two months to get ready for this and I want to thank God for keeping us safe out there. I want to thank Floyd, Leonard Ellerbe and my whole team for allowing me to check this off my bucket list.”
He also added, “My life has always been about taking chances and doing crazy stuff and this is just one off my bucket list. It’s a message for a lot of people who are scared to fail, scared to lose, scared to take chances to go out there and live. Don’t be scared to fail. It’s okay.”
Fans celebrated him in the comments, saying, “He actually did a really good job for his first fight and he definitely recovered quick.” Another added, “Chad is absolutely right! We spend so much time just surviving, and “playing it safe” we forget to live.”
The 43-year-old continued commenting about the event on Twitter. He tweeted, “Holy shit that was f—-ing fun against a real f—ing bare knuckle fighter and i f—ing survived 🙏🏾.”
For a little comedic relief, he later tweeted about one of his favorite places…McDonald’s. “Million dollars in 8 minutes, I can’t wait to celebrate tomorrow at McDonald’s #JeanUp,” he wrote.
As for the champion of the match, Maxwell paid his respects to Johnson while celebrating his win. The 33-year-old said, “Ask the world who Brian Maxwell is now. Brian Maxwell is here. Thank you, Chad. It was an honor to fight my idol. I appreciated it.”
And if you’re wondering if Johnson ever got his McDonald’s…he did. He shared a photo of his food and a receipt that showed he got a sausage McMuffin, two sausage McGriddles, three sausage egg McMuffins, hotcakes and several beverages.
