By The Numbers: Denis Goltsov vs. Tim Johnson

No one expected Tim Johnson to be in this position when the Professional Fighters League regular season started four months ago. Not even Johnson himself.

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Xtreme Couture export will take on Denis Goltsov when their heavyweight semifinal headlines PFL 7 this Friday at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, with the winner moving on to face either Oleg Popov or Linton Vassell for $1 million later this year. Johnson only has one PFL appearance under his belt but made it count, as he cut down Danilo Marques with first-round punches as a short-notice replacement at PFL 4 in June and banked the six points he needed to qualify for the playoffs. Goltsov, meanwhile, has established himself as a promotional mainstay. The Sambo Piter product steps into the spotlight on the heels of back-to-back technical knockouts of Thiago Santos and the aforementioned Vassell. Goltsov was a heavyweight finalist in 2023.

As Johnson and Goltsov move ever closer to their Music City main event, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

34: Years of age for Goltsov, who was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 10, 1990.

11: Goltsov victories by submission, accounting for 32% of his career total (34). His methods of choice: two triangle chokes, two armbars, two Ezekiel chokes, one straight armbar, one guillotine choke, one kimura, one brabo choke and one arm-triangle choke. Goltsov holds 17 other victories by knockout or technical knockout (50%) and six more by decision (18%).

78: Rounds started by Goltsov as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on seven different occasions and carries a 6-1 record in those bouts.

18: First-round finishes on the Goltsov resume, highlighted by his 18-second knockout of Yorgan De Castro at PFL 5 in June 2023.

.777: Cumulative winning percentage between the eight men—Renan Ferreira, Ante Delija, Ali Isaev, Mukhomad Vakhaev, Akhmed Sultanov, Alexander Volkov, Dmitry Poberezhets and Ibragim Ibragimov —who have beaten Goltsov. They boast a combined record of 140-39-3.

39: Years of age for Johnson, who was born on March 13, 1985 in Lamberton, Minnesota.

10: Johnson wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 55% of his career total (18). His list of victims includes Tyrell Fortune, Matt Mitrione, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Travis Wiuff. Johnson owns three other wins by submission (17%) and five more by decision (28%).

34: Seconds needed for Johnson to punch Dean Lamb into submission under the Max Fights banner on March 23, 2013. More than a decade later, it remains his quickest stoppage to date.

15: Consecutive calendar years in which Johnson has fought at least once. In addition to his 2-0 mark in 2024, he went 1-0 in 2010, 0-1 in 2011, 1-0 in 2012, 2-0 in 2013, 4-0 in 2014, 1-1 in 2015, 1-1 in 2016, 1-1 in 2017, 1-1 in 2018, 0-1 in 2019, 3-0 in 2020, 0-2 in 2021, 0-1 in 2022 and 1-0 in 2023.

207: Combined victories between the nine men—Volkov, Vassell, Fedor Emelianenko, Valentin Moldavsky, Vitaly Minakov, Cheick Kongo, Junior Albini, Jared Rosholt and Lance Peterson—who have defeated Johnson. They sport a cumulative .773 winning percentage at 207-60-2.