Will Tyrell Fortune cash in with his ninth straight win?
Rising heavyweight prospect [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] has had to fight two battles during his Bellator career as he’s faced a series of opponents inside the cage, while coping with his desire to move more swiftly up the heavyweight pecking order.
Bellator’s slow and steady approach to developing Fortune has paid dividends so far, with the powerful wrestler-turned-MMA fighter registering six finishes from his eight appearances.
Bellator 239 will see Fortune (8-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) face the most significant opponent of his career so far, as he takes on seasoned veteran Timothy Johnson, who is chasing his first win as a Bellator fighter after suffering back-to-back first-round knockouts at the hands of Cheick Kongo and Vitaly Minakov.
Despite those quickfire losses, Johnson (12-6 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) showed himself to be a solid operator during his UFC tenure, and it will be interesting to see how Fortune approaches his matchup with the 34-year-old, who has gone the distance with the likes of Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura and Jared Rosholt during his career.
Will Fortune claim his fifth straight finish and move one step closer to the division’s big names, or will Johnson prove a trickier assignment than his recent form suggests?