Linton Vassell thinks he can squeeze a little more juice out of his talent.
The soon-to-be 39-year-old Englishman will look to accelerate his upward trajectory in the Bellator MMA heavyweight division when he squares off with Timothy Johnson in a Bellator 277 showcase on Friday at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Vassell enters the cage with a four-fight winning streak in tow. He last competed at Bellator 271, where he eked out a split decision over Tyrell Fortune in a contentious Nov. 12 pairing.
As Vassell pores over the remaining details associated with his clash opposite Johnson, here are five things you might not know about him:
1. Better late than never could be his motto.
Vassell did not start his formal mixed martial arts training until the age of 23 and recorded his first professional victory after just six months in the gym. He submitted Chris Greig with a rear-naked choke 3:19 into their FX3 Fight Night 9 pairing on Sept. 13, 2008.
2. If he played baseball, he might carry the dreaded ‘Quad-A’ distinction.
“The Swarm” has held titles in the Ultimate Challenge MMA and Olympian MMA Championships organizations. However, Vassell has failed in two attempts to capture Bellator gold: He submitted to a fifth-round rear-naked choke from Emanuel Newton in an unsuccessful bid to claim the light heavyweight crown at Bellator 130 on Oct. 24, 2014 and succumbed to second-round punches from Ryan Bader in another fruitless pass at the 205-pund championship at Bellator 186 on Nov. 3, 2017.
3. He has been an equal-opportunity finisher.
Vassell owns eight wins by knockout or technical knockout and eight more by submission. Ronny Markes, Sergei Kharitonov, Liam McGeary, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Virgil Zwicker and Zelg Galesic highlight his long list of victims.
4. He avoids shortcuts.
The Milton Keynes, England, native now operates out of the revered Sanford MMA camp, where he trains under Henri Hooft, Greg Jones and Sean Soriano. Located in Deerfield Beach, Florida, the academy has been home to a who’s who of MMA stars, from Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald to Gilbert Burns, Derek Brunson and Anthony Johnson.
5. Availability has been a selling point.
Vassell has fought at least once in each of the last 14 calendar years, and he has made multiple appearances in 11 of those years. The lone exceptions were 2018, 2020 and 2021.
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