Anthony Johnson salutes the crowd during a press conference for the UFC 202 event. (Photo : Getty Images/Ethan Miller)
Before the New England Patriots take on the Atlanta Falcons in the upcoming edition of the Super Bowl, two UFC stars will take the field and participate in a celebrity flag football match. Namely, number one contender for the UFC light heavyweight championship Anthony "Rumble" Johnson and lightweight prospect Sage Northcutt will be taking part in the game.
The game will take place in Northcutt's hometown of Katy, Texas, which automatically made him and his team the fan favorite to win. Aside from this, he has also been one of the most talented athletes to ever grace the sport of mixed martial arts. He has won a total of 77 world youth championships in karate and won his first five professional MMA fights within the short span of 16 months.
Johnson went on a nine-fight winning streak before losing to Daniel Cormier in a bout for the vacant UFC light heavyweight crown. He is currently on a three fight streak, all three being "performance of the night" award winners, with the longest of the three contests being against Jimi Manuwa and taking less than five minutes and 30 seconds in total. During this stretch, Johnson also defeated Ryan Bader in less than one and a half minutes and Glover Teixeira in just 13 seconds.
The game will take place on Feb. 4 and will be a charity event for the benefit of Mission 22, a suicide prevention program for army veterans, according to Celebrity Sweat. It will be a rematch of last year's competition with the team led by NFL legend Doug Flutie taking on the one with current Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins at the helm. Some names that have been announced for the game include Brandon Marshall and Kayvon Webster of the Denver Broncos, Bryan Braman of the Philadelphia Eagles, as well as welterweight boxing champion Victor Ortiz, among others.
Aside from the celebrity flag football game, the city of Houston is also celebrating hosting the biggest game of the NFL season by holding a fan festival known as Super Bowl Live. Entrance is currently free and will feature food, games, and special musical performances from the likes of Leon Bridges, Shakey Graves, and ZZ Top, SB Nation reported.
Watch a team lead by recording artist Nelly take on a team led by Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Chase Daniel in the 2013 Celebrity Flag Football game below:
