Tim Johnson isn’t even presupposed to be within the PFL heavyweight semifinals, however right here he’s one win away from preventing for $1 million.
“At this second, I’m simply completely satisfied to be preventing with a significant group,” Johnson informed MMA Junkie Radio.
Johnson had been out of a job after parting methods with Bellator shortly earlier than the merge with PFL, which reached out to carry him again a short-notice substitute in opposition to Danilo Marques on June 13. In probably the most uncommon sequences to occur in a cage, Johnson absorbed a tough groin shot on the identical time he dropped Marques with a punch. After utilizing his time to get better, Johnson charged at Marques and dropped him once more earlier than scoring the end with ground-and-pound to clinch his spot within the match.
Johnson admits he was nowhere near being in struggle form and knew that, with no first-round end, he can be in bother in opposition to Marques. With that inconceivable outcome out of the way in which, Johnson (18-9) is about to fulfill Denis Goltsov (34-8) in Friday’s 2024 PFL Playoffs 1 important occasion at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
Though he’s near securing an enormous bag of cash, Johnson feels zero stress to win.
“Contemplating the place I used to be at not even a month-and-a-half in the past, it’s good to be again,” Johnson stated. “Proper now, I haven’t actually been day dreaming of successful ($1 million) or something like that, simply type of been taking it because it comes. That’s my type of mindset. Go on the market, let it rip and see what occurs. What’s can be. I’m not getting too labored up over successful and dropping, making the finals and all that. Give it a strive, give it a shot.”
A part of what goes into Johnson’s mentality may be very merely that he makes no illusions about how he measures as much as Goltsov.
“Denis is a heck of a fighter, far more proficient than I’m, however most of my opponents are that manner,” Johnson stated. “I’ve simply acquired to discover a method to grit by way of and discover some method to win. …
“I’m outdated now. I need to be entertaining, and I would like the followers to be entertained. If meaning risking a giant KO then I suppose it’s what it’s.”
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for 2024 PFL Playoffs 1.
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