Timothy Johnson’s Pursuit of Two-Time Upset Special

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At Bellator 239, as a +800 underdog, Timothy Johnson stunned odds makers with a first-round knockout of blue-chip heavyweight prospect Tyrell Fortune. The colossal victory raised the Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran’s status, and has again afforded him an opportunity to being a daring bettor’s upset special when he faces off with heavyweight grand prix semi-finalist Matt Mitrione at Bellator 243. Johnson views the win over Fortune as an important course correction in his career. However, his bout with Mitrione is a chance to place his name amongst the upper echelon of the division.

“This is a great opportunity. When I came over to Bellator, I wanted to fight names like Cheick [Kongo] and [Vitaly] Minakov. But I didn’t want to fight Minakov on six-hours’ notice,” Johnson told Sherdog with a laugh. “When you fight a guy like that you need a full training camp. But, the Cheick [fight], I kind of choked in that one. A learning experience. I definitely understand the weight of this fight, and what it represents moving forward. It could be a great turning point for me. Get a win here, and it puts me maybe one or two fights away from title contention. Who knows?”

In this exclusive conversation with Sherdog, the 35-year-old also spoke about his win in February. In addition, the chip on his shoulder heading into the fight as a huge underdog and being on the last fight of his contract. He also spoke in detail about his upcoming match-up with “Meathead.”