Tim Johnson isn’t even purported to be within the PFL heavyweight semifinals, but here he’s one win away from fighting for $1 million.
“At this moment, I’m just comfortable to be fighting with a significant organization,” Johnson told MMA Junkie Radio.
Johnson had been out of a job after parting ways with Bellator shortly before the merge with PFL, which reached out to bring him back a short-notice substitute against Danilo Marques on June 13. In one of the vital unusual sequences to occur in a cage, Johnson absorbed a tough groin shot at the identical time he dropped Marques with a punch. After using his time to get better, Johnson charged at Marques and dropped him again before scoring the finish with ground-and-pound to clinch his spot within the tournament.
Johnson admits he was nowhere near being in fight shape and knew that, and not using a first-round finish, he can be in trouble against Marques. With that improbable result out of the way in which, Johnson (18-9) is about to satisfy Denis Goltsov (34-8) in Friday’s 2024 PFL Playoffs 1 predominant event at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
Although he’s near securing an enormous bag of cash, Johnson feels zero pressure to win.
“Considering where I used to be at not even a month-and-a-half ago, it’s nice to be back,” Johnson said. “Right away, I haven’t really been day dreaming of winning ($1 million) or anything like that, just type of been taking it because it comes. That’s my type of mindset. Go on the market, let it rip and see what happens. What’s shall be. I’m not getting too worked up over winning and losing, making the finals and all that. Give it a try, give it a shot.”
A part of what goes into Johnson’s mentality could be very simply that he makes no illusions about how he measures as much as Goltsov.
“Denis is a heck of a fighter, far more talented than I’m, but most of my opponents are that way,” Johnson said. “I’ve just got to seek out a strategy to grit through and find some strategy to win. …
“I’m old now. I would like to be entertaining, and I would like the fans to be entertained. If which means risking a giant KO then I assume it’s what it’s.”
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