Affectionately know as the “The Pikey”, former Cage Warriors bantamweight champion Brett Johns is about to begin a new adventure with the announcement that he has been signed to one of America’s top mixed martial art promotions Titan Fighting Championship. MMA Plus editor Roberto Reid caught up with the undefeated fighter to discuss the next chapter of his MMA journey.
His rapid ascension in just under 2 and a half years through the domestic and European ranks has been an impressive feat despite his tender age which has lead to him being signed up by top agency Sucker Punch; joining a long list of famous clients which include red hot UFC featherweight Max Holloway, TUF 20 contestant Carla Esparza and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver. Straight away this new partnership was a gateway to pastures new and a chance to take America by storm.
After my fight with James Brum I signed with my new management company Sucker Punch who told me Titan were interested in signing me. It was an offer I had to take it, as it is a great opportunity to fulfill a dream of mine which was to fight in North America.
No disrespect to Cage Warriors but fighting in America is something I’ve always wanted to do and is the next step, not a step up, just the next step to achieving some of my career goals. The guys at Cage Warriors are like a family and have been amazing to me during my time with them so I don’t want people to think for a second that my choice reflects badly on them because it doesn’t, this move is part of my own personal journey. Without them (Cage Warriors) I wouldn’t be where I am in my career now.
When the contract offer came about I looked at the Titan roster and I knew these where the caliber of fighters I wanted to test myself against so I said to myself “lets do it “. I want to go out, see the world and test myself against international competition in their own backyard. Miguel Torres is a prime example. He may not have the best record at the moment but if you go back a few years he was the WEC bantamweight champion, he was without a doubt the best bantamweight on the planet, he was the T.J. Dillashaw of his day and I want to start adding those kinds of names to my record.
The announcement of Johns moving from the domestic/European circuit came as a shock to many, with a growing number of fans calling for him to receive a chance to reclaim the CWFC bantamweight title against current champion Toni Tauru, a title he never lost.
The Tauru fight was something I was definitely interested in taking before making the decision to sign for Titan. Toni came up to me moments after winning the title and he said to me that he wanted to fight me for the title in Finland which was fine by me and I didn’t take it as a sign of disrespect or anything like that. Toni seems like a nice guy and I took it as a complement as I saw it as a sign that he wanted to fight the best fighters because he had already beaten a good fighter in Corey Tate and I felt like he wanted to test himself against me next.
With his attention now turned to conquering the states and with him being labeled as the continents top bantamweight outside of the UFC, his representation grows with every passing day and Johns knows he will have a target placed firmly on his back one he enters the Titan cage. Despite this realisation, the Swansea born Judoka turned mixed martial artist isn’t remotely phased by this prospect.
I have no problem with having a target on my back as I feel like I’m the guy to beat. I feel like it’s been like that for a while now but I’m not the type of fighter who talks crap to get fights, I’m the type that if you want to fight me just sign the contract and we can get it on. It’s the same attitude I’ve had all my career, if you want to fight let’s fight. I’ve spent most of my career with a target on my back. When I won the title (CWFC) I became a target for guys like Ronnie Mann and James Brum so I’m used to it, so I wouldn’t expect anything less when I begin my career in Titan FC.
Despite my success I feel like I’ve always been a bit of an underdog during my career but I like having that mind set as it drives me to become a better fighter. Even going into the Brum fight people were saying that he was going to run through me and it just motivated me to put on the performance I did despite the issue I had in the lead up to the fight. I want to use that underdog mentality when I enter the Titan cage for the first time. Some people are born to do things, Cristiano Ronaldo was born to be a footballer, Floyd Mayweather was born to be a boxer and I believe I was born to be a mixed martial artist.
The 22-year old joins a promotion that is home to notable names such as multiple time world BJJ champion and current Titan FC light heavyweight title holder Vinny Magalhaes, as well as a man who in his day was considered one of the P4P best fighters on the planet, former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, and Johns couldn’t be happier to be sharing future bills with some of the world’s elite mixed martial artists.
Its great, there are loads of UFC vets on the roster, there is also fighters such as Alex Soto, Mike Ricci and former judo Olympian Rick Hawn has just a multi-fight deal as well so it will be great to share cards and compete with fighters such as those. I can’t wait to get started with Titan FC, I’m just trying to clear up the last of my remaining injuries but I should be ready to compete in early 2015. When I get there fans can expect to see me win the Titan FC title, I’ve signed a 4-fight deal with Titan so I think that is plenty of fights to win the title because I’m not there to make up the numbers, I’m there to win the belt.
