Rivalries: Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson has spent the better part of a decade establishing himself as a dependable heavyweight at the sport’s highest levels, and he appears to have found a home with the Professional Fighters League.

The 39-year-old Xtreme Couture rep will draw his first assignment of 2025 when he takes on former Bellator MMA titleholder Vadim Nemkov in the PFL Champions Series 1 co-main event on Jan. 25 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Johnson enters the cage with wins in three of his past four bouts. The Lamberton, Minnesota, native sports a 72% finish rate as a pro, having secured 13 of his 18 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.

As Johnson makes final preparations for his upcoming showdown with Nemkov in the Middle East, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped him chart his course to this point:

Shamil Abdurakhimov

Johnson excelled in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut, as he disposed of the Russian kickboxer with ground-and-pound from the mount in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 63 heavyweight prelim on April 4, 2015 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia. Abdurakhimov succumbed to blows 4:57 into Round 1. Johnson marched forward, chipped away with punches and slowly wore down his counterpart. Abdurakhimov scored with straight punches, many of them while moving backward, but a point deduction for grabbing the fence seemed to disrupt his rhythm. Johnson countered a kick in the waning moments of Round 1, executed a takedown in the center of the cage, advanced immediately to mount and dropped unanswered rights and lefts until the stoppage was called.

Alexander Volkov

The ex-Bellator and M-1 Global eked out a contentious split decision over Johnson in their UFC Fight Night 99 heavyweight showcase on Nov. 19, 2016 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Judges Howard Hughes and Takeo Kobayashi scored it 29-28 for Volkov, while judge Peter Lavery cast a dissenting 30-27 nod in Johnson’s direction. Neither man established definitive superiority. Johnson sent the 6-foot-7 Russian to the canvas with a stinging right uppercut in the first round and unleashed his ground-and-pound. However, his inability to finish proved costly. Volkov capitalized in the second half of the fight, as the American’s pace slowed to a crawl. “Drago” did his best work in Round 3, where he made his move with kicks to the head and body, occasional knees and a draining clinch, doing just enough to curry the requisite support on the scorecards.

Valentin Moldavsky

The Russian brute outstruck and outskilled Johnson on his way to a unanimous decision and captured the interim Bellator heavyweight championship in the Bellator 261 headliner on June 25, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. All three cageside judges struck scorecards for Moldavsky: 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46. Johnson tried to draw his opponent into a brawl and initially enjoyed some success. However, Moldavsky settled into a rhythm, landed the cleaner shots at range and started to incorporate takedowns against his hulking adversary midway through their confrontation. Those efforts propelled the decorated sambo practitioner to a comfortable lead and bled Johnson’s gas tank dry. Even as he pressed forward, the American seemed less and less of a concern to Moldavsky in the championship rounds, the gulf between them widening with each passing moment.

Denis Goltsov

The two-time World Sambo Championships gold medalist wrecked Johnson with first-round punches, as their Professional Fighters League heavyweight semifinal headlined PFL 7 on Aug. 2, 2024 at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The end came 2:26 into Round 1. Goltsov tripped the former Dakota Fighting Championships titleholder to the floor, got his ground-and-pound in gear and climbed to full mount roughly two minutes into the match. Punches flowed from there, as he cut off Johnson’s attempt to scramble out of danger. Goltsov eventually settled on his turtled counterpart’s back and cut loose with unanswered punches and hammerfists until the job was done.