Linton Vassell discusses upcoming fight against Tim Johnson at Bellator 276
Linton Vassell isn’t afraid to make changes and so far he’s made two great changes in his career.
The first major change came seven years ago when Vassell was training in his home country of England and his coaches advised him that it’d be more beneficial to train in a bigger gym with other high level professional athletes like himself.
After thinking about it, Vassell agreed with his British coaches and came over to America to train with the Blackzilians and now he trains out of Sanford MMA, which is one of the best gyms in the world.
Since moving to America, Vassell believes his game has improved leaps and bounds and that he is a complete fighter thanks to all the training he gets from his top notch coaches and high level training partners.
Another big change that Vassell made came in 2019, when he changed weight classes.
Vassell is guy standing six feet four inches tall and weighs around 240 pounds. After years of killing himself cutting down to the 205 pound light heavyweight limit, he was forced with a major decision.
Light heavyweight provided Vassell with great opportunities as he fought for two light heavyweight titles, however the weight cut started to become an issue and Vassell dropped three straight fights in less than two years.
That’s when Vassell decided to move to heavyweight and since moving up, the Englishman has won three straight fights and is currently ranked No. 4 in the Bellator heavyweight rankings.
Vassell now feels the best he’s ever felt and he’s looking to add another win to his unbeaten heavyweight record when he fights Tim Johnson at Bellator 277 on April 15.
Prior to the fight, Vassel spoke with MyMMANews about the changes he’s made over the years, his matchup with Johnson, the landscape of Bellator’s heavyweight division and British heavyweight boxers Tyson Fury & Anthony Joshua.
You can hear everything he had to say by watching the interview in the video above.
A full list of fights scheduled for Bellator 277 are listed below:
A.J. McKee (C) (18-0) vs. Patricio Pitbull (15-5) – for the Bellator featherweight championship
Vadim Nemkov (C) (15-2) vs. Corey Anderson (16-5) – for the Bellator light heavyweight championship
Aaron Pico (9-3) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (17-3-1)
Tim Johnson (15-8) vs. Linton Vassell (22-8, 1 NC)
Tyrell Fortune (11-2, 1 NC) vs. Steve Mowry (10-0)
Kyle Crutchmer (8-1) vs. Michael Lombardo (12-2, 1 NC)
Shane Keefe (2-0) vs. Tyson Miller (2-0)
Gaston Bolanos (5-3) vs. Cass Bell (5-2)
Theo Haig (0-0) vs. Alan Benson (1-2)
Edwin De Los Santos (1-0) vs. Alberto Mendez (0-1)
Bobby Seronio (1-0) vs. Calob Ramirez (1-1)
Socrates Hernandez (0-1) vs. Rogelio Luna (0-0)
