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Bellator MMA

Timothy Johnson's unlikely journey to the doorstep of a Bellator MMA title shot took him to foreign soil on Saturday where the journeyman American heavyweight secured the most important victory of his 10-year career. 

Johnson (15-6) not only spoiled the homecoming of veteran Cheick Kongo (30-11-2, 1 NC) in the first major fight card on French soil after the sport was legalized earlier this year, he extended his win streak to three with pivotal win that may carry title implications. 

With the Paris crowd firmly behind the 45-year-old Kongo inside AccorHotels Arena, Johnson hung on for a split decision in a close -- but far from scintillating -- rematch. Two judges scored it 29-28 for the 35-year-old Johnson, a native of Lumberton, Minnesota, while the third had it 29-28 for Kongo. CBS Sports also scored the fight 29-28 for Johnson. 

Two years after Kongo scored a first-round knockout over him at Bellator 208, Johnson largely stayed clear of Kongo's power while relying on his wrestling and standing grappling control in the clinch to pull out the close win. 

"I knew it was going to be close and I know I'm fighting in his home country. I wasn't going to be surprised if it went either way," Johnson said. "The first round I definitely give myself. The second round, Cheick probably got the better of me. The third round there was a lot of pushing around. Nobody dominated this fight."

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Johnson is able to pair the win over Kongo with consecutive knockouts against Tyrell Fortune and Matt Mitrione in 2020 to make a strong case for the next opportunity at Ryan Bader's heavyweight crown. A former two-division Bellator champion, Bader surrendered his 205-pound belt in August via TKO to Vadim Nemkov and hasn't defended his heavyweight title since a no contest against Kongo last September that ended via accidental eye poke. 

"I sure hope [a title shot is next]," Johnson said. "I think every athlete has got their little window when things start lining up for them. I think the past three or four fights have showed me that it might be my window and it might not come around again."

Kongo, who was forced to wait 44 fights and 19 years of his pro career to fight on home soil, snapped a nine-fight unbeaten streak with the loss in a streak which dates back to 2015. 

"Disappointed for sure. It's just disappointing," Kongo said. "I signed on with Bellator for this final chapter and I want to come back and fight again."

A missed kick attempt in Round 1 saw Kongo slip and fall victim to an instant takedown. Johnson controlled from top position to close out the round, landing clean punches from behind before the horn. But Kongo later rose from a takedown in Round 2 and enjoyed his best stretch of offense when he briefly staggered Johnson with short punches and elbows late in the round. 

The final round saw Johnson score with punches early before a sustained amount of grappling from the clinch, in which Kongo landed knees to the body. HIs offensive output just wasn't enough to sway the judges thanks to Johnson working as the aggressor throughout.