From the outside, it would appear that Anthony Johnson faces more than simply a fight with Alexander Gustafsson this Saturday in the main event of UFC on FOX 14.

Johnson (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is having to battle a lengthy flight to Sweden, a fight that will begin sometime around 4 a.m. local time in addition to facing the man many feel deserved a win over Jon Jones in Gustafsson (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC).

A shot at Jones’ title is also on the line, adding even more gravity to this bout between top-five ranked fighters. Gustafsson is ranked No. 2 and Johnson No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings.

These factors don’t really matter to “Rumble” as he heads into Saturday night, as he told MMAjunkie Radio: “I’ve been here since last Friday, so I’ve been going to bed at like 5, 6 a.m. over here. So it doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve been training at like 3 or 4 anyway. So I’m already well adjusted to the time.”

The early arrival was the idea of Johnson’s coaches and manager and has allowed Johnson to get used to the scale of the Tele2 Arena, which will host the event in Stockholm.

“It was cool – it was cool to experience it. I was glad to be there. This place is huge,” Johnson said of the arena, which has held crowds as large as 40,000. “I’ve obviously never been in a place this big before, especially for a fight.”

Johnson is no stranger to big fights in foreign countries, having experienced his career low point when he traveled to Brazil to face Vitor Belfort at UFC 142. Johnson was moving up from welterweight to middleweight after a series of poor weight cuts and still managed to miss weight by 11 pounds. The failure to make weight was followed up with Belfort submitting Johnson in the first round, a combination that led to Johnson’s release from the UFC.

Johnson would miss weight one more time outside the octagon before a jump to light heavyweight. He has won eight straight fights since that January 2012 night, including wins over Phil Davis and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira since being brought back into the UFC fold.

As bad as it was at the time, the experience in Brazil is one that Johnson says has prepared him for having to travel into hostile territory with the crowd against him.

“If I can take the Brazilian crowd, I can take any crowd. Hell, I’m definitely not afraid of this crowd if I can take the Brazilian crowd. So, I’m good.”

UFC on FOX 14 takes place Saturday at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Gustafsson’s home city in Sweden. The main card airs live on FOX (8 p.m. ET) following prelims on FOX Sports 1 (5 p.m. ET) and UFC Fight Pass (4 p.m. ET).

For more on UFC on FOX 14, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.