The Beaten Path: Welsh Bantamweight Prospect Brett Johns Raring for Titan Debut

You could say Brett Johns is ready to make a change.

“There’s not much to do in Wales,” he said. “ It’s farmland. You have to work for everything...From a young age, basically. I would shovel crap from one place to another. I cried my eyes out. It was absolutely horrific. I hated every minute of it.” 

Cage Warriors

Not that the Welshman is averse to work. One who dislikes work doesn’t become the best bantamweight MMA fighter in Europe, which is what many consider Johns to be. He’s not afraid of a little toil; far from it. Just a specific kind of work. The menial kind, and only because he’s been doing it as long as he can remember.

It’s also not to say he’s not proud of his homeland. But when you’ve lived in the same place for all of your 23 years, you can get a little restless. And the restlessness accelerates when the big city beckons.

That’s the situation Johns finds himself in now. Last fall, the former bantamweight champion in Britain’s venerable Cage Warriors promotion signed with Titan Fighting Championship in America. He makes his debut there March 20 against UFC veteran Walel Watson.

“I fought a lot of good guys in Cage Warriors. I just wanted to make a change,” Johns told Bleacher Report. “I want guys from America. It was an easy choice. It’s sort of a feeder to the UFC. The fans at home have been brilliant. The States are just bigger and better. ”

Cage Warriors

Johns has not only never fought in America; he’s never fought outside Great Britain. Actually, forget that too: He’s never fought more than 50 miles away from his home in Swansea, he says. And though he has a 10-0 record and a title belt on his resume (he lost the Cage Warriors championship when he failed to make weight before his bout with James Brum last April), the stagnation began to seep in through more than one entry point.

“I’m living off of scraps,” he said. “My mother is helping me. It’s like my fights. I grind it out. I’m getting the job done, though. I’m getting paid to fight. The more you fight, the more you get paid.”

The blueness of his collar appears in his style in the cage, which has gotten some guff from fans and opponents alike for not being the most pyrotechnic of things. Johns relies heavily on takedowns and clinch and top control to ride opponents to victory. It might be a lot less boring to watch him if someone had ever been able to stop it.

“Yes, I’m a boring fighter,” Johns admitted. “But people remember winners. People with big, shiny belts. We have a game plan, and we stick to it. I’m not going to sacrifice six months of work for a small bonus. They say, ‘Why don’t you stand and bang?’“

But even as he defends a style that really doesn’t need much defense in the first place thanks to its success, he said he understands why finishes are important, especially as he tries to open a new phase of his career, one that involves a little more excitement in the cage and a little more promotion out of it.

“I guarantee the next one will be different,” Johns said, volume building in his voice. “I’ve been working a lot on my hands. If I get my way, I’ll knock Watson out.”  

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Speaking of Watson—a four-fight UFC veteran who once fought and lost by decision to current UFC bantamweight TJ Dillashaw—Johns sees him as a good test in his stateside debut. If not because the fight will be close, then because Watson (13-7) provides a solid showcase for Johns’ skills, both old and new.

“He’s a very dangerous guy. Good stand-up, maybe lacks in wrestling. I know it sounds a bit funny, but I want to enjoy my fight,” Johns said. “He’s a UFC veteran. He has a hard-fought decision with Dillashaw. If he catches me, that’s the only way he wins, or if I pass out during my weight cut.”

You can hear it in his voice. Johns is chomping at the bit for a larger audience. He’s ready to move beyond the confines of an idyllic, if inert, upbringing. And he’s ready to take on American MMA.

So what’s the first thing he’s going to do when he gets to the U.S.? He wants to eat the food. He’s hungry. 

“Just give me anything,” he said. “Just put it on a plate.”

The Beaten Path is an ongoing series of profiles and articles highlighting top prospects in MMA. Read the previous interview profile here. Scott Harris covers MMA and other things for Bleacher Report and other places. Follow Scott on Twitter.