Brett Johns is back in action later this month at UFC Fight Night Atlantic City, facing top ranked Aljamain Sterling in a bantamweight division encounter.
The bantamweight is coming off of a thirty second submission win over Joe Soto at the UFC Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale after catching him in a calf slicer, a win that has catapulted the fighter to a higher level of popularity.
“Obviously it was a big win, it catapulted me. I always got my Instagram followers, when I got signed to the UFC…it (the amount of followers) went up a hell of a lot and it went up a lot again (after the Soto win). It was a big impact, it was a massive impact. Especially in the bantamweight division, we slipped into the top 15. That’s what we had planned anyway for the end of the year (2017) and we only want to go up from this. Its been exciting, but I really don’t dwell on things too much. I had December off and then it was straight back in (to camp), a lot of people like to take a lot of time off…but that wasn’t the case in this fight, wanted to jump right back in. As soon as January rolled around, I was back in the gym working hard for the next one and the call came through that it was Aljamain (Sterling). That’s what I wanted…it was one of those things that just happened, the stars aligned like that for me. Its definitely got me more popular in the UFC,” Johns said in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Johns now enters the Octagon against the aforementioned Aljamain Sterling, who is the first top 15 ranked competitor that he has fought in the promotion.
With Sterling being the first ranked fighter that Johns has ever fought in the UFC, one thing that the competitor is expecting is that the bout is going to be a tough encounter.
“I think its going to be a tough 15 minutes, I don’t really even know. I never really plan my route in a fight, I think its bad to do that…to put things on a personal level. I’m a lot more confident now, lot more confident with the boxing. Not that I think that Aljamain is chinny (weak chin), he did get caught in his last fight (against Marlon Moraes) with a bad shot. I feel like that people have yet to see that kind of power from Brett Johns in the striking side, my training partners will back me up…they know I hit hard. It would be nice to get that stoppage with the hands, I’m gonna go out there and be like a bull in a china shop. That guys finished as soon as I land the right shot, he’s gonna shoot and he’s a good wrestler. I feel like maybe on his side of things, coming off of that loss…I feel like he’s going to go wrestling heavy and just try to win the fight. He’s coming off of that loss and he’s going to want to win, (he’s going to) do anything that he can do to get that win. For Aljamain…its going to be more of a wrestling style bout, for me…I’m going to go out there and try to finish out the fight. Somethings just switched in my head (since signing with the UFC), I feel more confident and I feel better. I’m looking for that stoppage…I really am. It doesn’t really matter to me (where Sterling is ranked), I want to fight every guy from the top ten…I really do. First is Aljamain, I’ll be the first Welsh guy to ever slip in the top ten in the world. I want to be that guy who keeps writing in the history books, it would be nice to get the win over Aljamain,” says Johns.
UFC Fight Night Atlantic City takes place on Saturday, April 21 from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey with Edson Barboza and Kevin Lee headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
