Preview: Bellator 239 ‘Ruth vs. Amosov’

Tyrell Fortune vs. Timothy Johnson

Fortune puts his undefeated record on the line as he looks for his ninth professional win. The budding blue-chip prospect has had all his fights under the Bellator banner. The 29-year-old was a Junior College and Division II NCAA National Champion wrestler and nearly qualified for the Olympics. He has done well bringing his vaunted wrestling to the cage, showing great timing on his double leg and knee tap entries. Once on top, he has smothering control and dispatches ground-and-pound with tremendous ferocity. He has made great strides in the standup game, too. He uses feints to set up his punches, which he throws with great power, and he has added some thunderous leg kicks. Inside the clinch, the Grand Canyon University standout is an excellent dirty boxer who can crush his opponents’ midsections with knees. Fortune appears to be just starting to scratch the surface of his talent.

Johnson’s start in Bellator couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. In his first two fights under the Bellator banner, he was brutally knocked out in the first round both times, courtesy of Cheick Kongo and Vitaly Minakov. He returns to action hoping to get back on track and slow down the momentum of Fortune. Johnson is a massive man who weighs in at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds. He lacks athleticism but makes up for it with grit and determination. The southpaw is a limited striker from distance. He usually wings slow haymakers to help him crash into the pocket, where he does much better work. The UFC veteran likes to grab the clinch, where he batters his foe with dirty boxing. The former two-time Division II All-American also loves to grind his opponent against the fence while pummeling for position. He does well to lean against his foe, forcing them to carry some of his weight to tire them out. From in close quarters, the Academy of Combat Arts team member will look for takedowns with the body lock or trips or will even look to execute a lateral drop. While he has high-level wrestling experience, the Minnesota native does not take his opponents down from outside drop-step entries. Johnson’s chin is a major question mark as it failed him in his last two outings.

This fight seems like a complete mismatch at this point in their respective careers. This is Fortune’s fight to lose. He is a terrible stylistic matchup for Johnson. He is quick, more athletic and is better at the one thing that Johnson excels at, namely wrestling. Fortune appears to be making improvements by leaps and bounds between each fight and looks like a future title challenger, whereas Johnson has seen better days. I expect Fortune to get the best win of his career and be the third straight opponent to make quick work of Johnson. Fortune wins by first-round TKO.

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