Coming off an impressive knockout in November, Tyrell Fortune returns to the Bellator cage to face UFC veteran Timothy Johnson in a battle of heavyweights and Bellator 239 Friday.
MPO had a chance to speak to Fortune once again in leadup to his showdown with Johnson.
“He’ll be slower, I’ll be faster,” Fortune said of the anticipated weight difference between the two heavyweights. Fortune, a former Division II wrestler, is on the light side for heavyweights having weighed in at 245 pounds on Thursday. Johnson came in at almost 263 pounds. Fortune is not surprised by the weight disparity but believes that any advantage Johnson believes he has from using the extra weight to pressure Fortune is the wrong strategy. “Tell me how he grinds me [down] without wrestling me?” asked Fortune. A former Division II wrestling champion, Fortune is confident in his grappling skills and is not concerned with Johnson attempting to lean on him or take him down and out grapple him.
For his benefit, Fortune has been honing in on his boxing and kickboxing skills. “My focus is on hands and body awareness.” Fortune trains out of Arizona Combat Sports.
With 4 straight wins via stoppage, the undefeated Fortune hopes to keep the streak alive. This past November, he stopped former UFC veteran Zu Anjanwu in the second round. This time around, he hopes to end Johnson in the first round.
With two fights left on his current Bellator contract, Fortune hopes to keep the momentum going and continue to be busy in MMA in 2020. In addition, he hasn’t given up hope on getting into the boxing ring at some point as well.
The Portland, Oregon native has a professional MMA record of 8-0 and hopes to make in 9 this Friday in Oklahoma. Johnson is 0-2 in Bellator with a 12-6 record overall. The event takes place Friday on The Paramount Network and DAZN.
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