Tyrell Fortune says Bellator 239 opponent Tim Johnson will ‘lead himself to defeat’

Each year it seems that heavyweight Tyrell Fortune can’t top his last one, but he keeps doing it.

Coming off two wins in 2018, Fortune picked up three wins in 2019, finishing all three bouts, and raising his undefeated streak to start his career off at eight in a row. He fully intends to add to that streak at Bellator 239 on Friday.

“The year played out really well,” Fortune told MMAWeekly.com. “It played out exactly how I wanted it to. I stayed undefeated and got three finishes.

“I couldn’t really ask for more, maybe another fight. Another fight in 2019 would have been nice, but besides that, no complaints. Just keep moving, going forward from here, getting better.”

When it comes to his performances, Fortune admits he is always critical and along with his team dissects his fights to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes in future bouts.

“After the fight I’m always looking for holes, looking for weaknesses and errors,” said Fortune. “You want to be aware of bad habits. I want to make sure every time I fight there’s no consistency in bad habits.

“Me and my coach sit down and watch my fight a few times and just break myself down as an opponent, and then we go from there on what to build on next when we get back to training.”

On Friday in Thackerville, Okla., Fortune (8-0) will look to remain undefeated when he faces Tim Johnson (12-6) in a Bellator 239 main card heavyweight bout.

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“For me, I feel like I’ve just got to go out and be myself,” Fortune said. “I think Tim is going to lead himself into defeat. He’s going to try to do something silly, and I’ll be there to beat him to it or knock him out for a counter.

“He’s said in interviews he’s going to try to grind me out, but I can’t think of a position where you can grind a guy out without being in a wrestling position, and I don’t think he can out-wrestle me. I don’t see it being too easy on him.”

While Fortune has made strides to move his game and career forward going into his fourth year as a pro, one area he feels could use more work in 2020 is his exposure.

“I don’t see my name ever talked about until maybe the week before the fight,” said Fortune. “I think I saw one Instagram post from Bellator since the fight was announced. So actually I feel like the promoting on that side is actually lacking.

“I feel like not many people know who I am as a heavyweight in Bellator with my last four finishes. As the division looks at it I think everyone knows who I am and everyone really has to pay attention because there’s no one like me in the world.”