Welsh featherweight Brett Johns has admitted that the end of his fighting career is drawing closer as he prepares for one more shot at world glory.
The 33-year-old from Swansea will challenge Nikolay Grozdev for the Way of the Warrior (WOW) featherweight title in Madrid on 13 December – a bout he describes as potentially the “icing on the cake” of his career.
Johns is no stranger to championship success, having previously claimed world titles at bantamweight in both Cage Warriors and Titan FC before going on to compete under the banners of the UFC, Bellator and the Professional Fighters League (PFL).
“It’s a very tough fight, I’m not naïve,” Johns said ahead of what will be his 27th professional contest.
“I know what’s coming round the corner, but I want to fight the best guys. When my career is dead in the water people will say, ‘he fought the best guys out there, and he fought the best he possibly could’.”
A career revival
Johns heads to Spain in buoyant mood after a strong return to form. He stopped his opponent in the opening round of his last fight in Marbella with a rare Suloev Stretch submission, headlining the WOW 22 card.
That victory came after a testing period both in and out of the cage. Following back-to-back defeats to Tyler Diamond and Timur Khizriev – who went on to win the 2024 PFL tournament finals – Johns had been weighing up retirement.
“I’d contemplated retirement,” he admitted. “I had two fights and two losses, fought in the April, my wife delivered our daughter in the May and then I fought the end of June 2024. It came at the wrong time but, in the same breath, I couldn’t say no to the opportunity of fighting with the PFL. But now we’re on a different path and I’m really liking where it’s going.”
That new path was underlined in August, when Johns stepped in against Georgian fighter Levan Kirtadze – and needed less than three minutes to secure victory.
“It was more to do with the fact, have I still got this?” Johns reflected. “Obviously I answered my own question on fight night and got the win in three minutes, so yeah I was chuffed.”
Topuria’s influence
WOW, still a relatively new promotion, has gained momentum in part thanks to the involvement of UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, who is a co-owner. Johns believes Topuria’s presence has significantly raised the profile of the organisation.
“I’d be lying if I said that Ilia wasn’t some sort of influence,” he said. “He’s the best lightweight on the planet right now and having him involved in WOW has only drawn more eyes on that promotion. It’s a new company compared to the rest of the fight promotions, but his influence gets the eyes of the world to watch that promotion. Of course I wanted to be involved – a slice of that pie and attention – and that’s why it was an easy decision to make [to sign with them].”
For Johns, it has been more than just the exposure. He says his experience with WOW has reignited his love for the sport.
“I just liked the way they treated me. For the first time in my life I felt like I was, in a weird way, a big fish to those guys,” he added. “There wasn’t enough they could do for us and I just loved the way they were. I’m enjoying the journey now for the first time since the start of my professional career.”
With retirement looming, Johns hopes Madrid will bring the perfect ending: another world title to add to an already distinguished record.
