Jean Matusomoto suffered his first MMA loss when he fought the veteran bantamweight lobfont at UFC Seattle this February, but thinks his record is 17-0, not 16-1.
He returns to the Octagon this Saturday, playing against Miles Johns on the main card of the UFC Vegas 109, looking for a definitive finish to avoid another heartbreak.
“For me, I won that fight, so for me, I’m still undefeated,” Matsumoto told MMA Fighting. “Of course, that fight wasn’t exactly what we planned, but there were some issues, but it’s a fight, right?
“In the fight, you could decide on a fight in two seconds and the loss came at the right time. I saw that you could compete at the highest level. I fought No. 9 in the rankings. He was no one there.
Matsumoto revealed that the UFC had promised to treat him as the winner of the future, and ultimately announced that he would return to face Johns at the top of the UFC. Johns has won six of his 10 octagon appearances, but made the decision to Feliperima in his latest Lima in December.
“I wanted to rank someone at first,” Matsumoto said. “But I spoke to my team and thought it would be better to wait a little and then go back to the winning track. I think this is very important. The UFC knows the best path.”
“I think Miles Johns is a good fight for me,” he continued. “He was going to fight Cody Garbrandt before he stopped fighting, so instead he fought Felipe Lima (featherweight), so he’s very dangerous at 135.
The former LFA champion, who had two losses in a bantamweight match under the UFC banner, was his 2020 loss at Mario Bautista, with Johns finishing just two times in 19 matches. Matsumoto, who soon turned 26, was suspended in nine of his 16 MMA wins.
“He’s very experienced and has a lot of fights in the UFC, but I think he has more tools to win,” Matsumoto said of Johns. “Of course, no one can underestimate it. The best in the world is in the UFC, but I think he’s more perfect than him. He’s a wrestler who likes to trade, but when he’s doing his best, he’s back to that game. I’m already used to that game. That.”
Matsumoto’s final three finishes were chokes of the guillotine, knocking Luanne Matthewus on the Brazilian circuit, choking Marlon Basilio in the LFA, and winning tickets for the Dana White series.
He’s preparing the same move in case Johns films a takedown this weekend.
“He’s training to protect him because he’s probably something I love so much,” Matsumoto said. “But if he has his neck there, I will never think again. I always try to finish the fight, but I am a smart fighter too. That’s dangerous. It’s most important to keep my arms up.