Taylor Johnson Gunning for Another First-Round Victory at Bellator 250

Dana White’s Contender Series vet Taylor Johnson foresees a quick night at the office on Oct. 29.

Johnson (6-1) will face Johnny Eblen (6-0) in a middleweight clash that will go down at the upcoming Bellator 250 event. A little more than a month ago, “Tombstone” duped three-time NCAA Division I national champion Ed Ruth into a false sense of safety that led to a quick submission victory at Bellator 245. While talking with Sherdog, Johnson elaborated on the process that brought the end of that fight at the 0:59 mark of the first stanza.

“If I know that a guy can wrestle at my level, I'm not going to wrestle him,” he confessed. “It's exhausting; two wrestlers to hit head up like that. Every time I can create some scramble scenario, I'm looking to take legs.”

All of Johnson's victories have come inside the distance so far. The one against Ruth was Johnson's first submission.

“When Ed shot in, I tried to create a little scenario where I can come out with a leg lock,” he added. “I honestly thought he was going to back out. Most of my training partners know they're in danger when we get in those positions. Ed was pretty much out of it. I was trying to hold on to his foot as I was sitting there in that kind of slicer position. ‘Oh, we are going to get back on our feet, we are going to start banging.’ I don't know if it was pride or maybe lack of experience in that situation, but he decided to turn around and start hitting me while I had the leg there.”

The man known as “Tombstone” also revealed that he was working when he got the call from Bellator.

“I was honestly out on a construction job for Steve King Construction,” he said. “I was building, just thinking about life when I got a phone call from my management, ‘Hey dude, you might have the opportunity to fight Ed Ruth.’ I was like, ‘Let's get it on!’ So, it was super exciting to get to fight someone like Ed. In my world, I grew up wrestling. I wrestled a good 14 years from middle school to college. For me, to face someone like Ed was like ‘Hell yeah, let's do this!’ It was a huge opportunity and a great win, honestly.”