Miles Johns admits not having James Krause in his corner was “challenging,” explains why he’s “not happy” with his win over Vince Morales

By Cole Shelton - November 25, 2022

Miles Johns is disappointed with how he fought at UFC Vegas 65.

Miles Johns

Johns stepped up on short notice to take on Vince Morales in his first fight off suspension and changing camps. With that, he says that impacted him too much, which is why didn’t fight the way he usually does.

“I’m definitely not happy with my performance. There are no excuses, I don’t care I took it on short notice, it’s just on me,” Johns said to BJPENN.com. “At the same time, I do think I felt a lot of pressure on me going into that fight. Coming off the suspension, coming off a loss, and changing gyms there was a lot on the line for me. I just wanted to get a win to secure my position in the UFC and there is added pressure after changing gyms. I was out there to fight to win and not fighting to have fun, which made me tense.”

Along with all those factors, the night before his fight, Johns was also told his head coach James Krause couldn’t corner him. There is an investigation going into the Darrick Minner vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke fight and with Krause cornering Minner, the commission wouldn’t clear him.

Johns had to fight without Krause in his corner

To make matters worse, in the same warmup room as Johns was Sayif Saud who was his former coach.

“I just kind of had to put it behind me,” Johns explained. “I went through different mental battles, my immediate thought was I’m still allowed to fight right? Then, after that, it was just figuring out who was going to be in my corner. But, it was difficult because my old team was there, I was in the same room with Sayif Said and Fernie Gracia. It was challenging to experience that. Not having my coach in the corner with me was tough. It was nothing I have experienced before.”

During the fight, neither Miles Johns nor Vince Morales threw many punches. Yet, Johns believed he did more so when he heard the first judge had it as 30-27 he knew he would get his hand raised.

“Immediately after the fight, I was a little concerned. But, when the first judge had it 30-27 I knew I had it in the bag,” Johns said. “I knew I didn’t lose all three rounds, as I thought I won all three rounds, but for sure two of them. To me, I felt like I did enough to win the rounds.”

With Johns getting back into the win column, the hope is to return soon and has his eyes on Aiemann Zahabi as his next opponent.

“I just want a fight that will get me and the fans excited. I want someone that people think will be a great fight so I think Aiemann Zahabi will be a perfect next fight,” Johns said.

Would you like to see Miles Johns vs. Aiemann Zahabi?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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