Persson to face unbeaten fighter for ISKA World Title: “Everyone has been undefeated at some point”

Johanna Persson. Photo: Chris Önnerby

Swedish Muay Thai sensation Johanna Persson (27-7) will fight for the ISKA world title next. She will take on undefeated Alex Rose (10-0) at Combat Fight Series 19 on July 6.

The fight got bumped up from being a CFS title bout to become a fight for the prestigeous ISKA world title.

As a WMC Nordic champion and four-time Swedish champion, Persson is as for sure one of the toughest opponents the Brit ever faced.

“Rose is a great fighter. I don’t expect anything else at this level,” Persson tells Frontkick in an exclusive interview. “She’s 10-0, but everyone has been undefeated at some point. I don’t care about records, I focus on my own game.”

“We will ruin her game and make her lose her confidence”

Persson’s coach, David Lehnberg, agrees with his fighter.

“Johanna will just focus on doing her part. My job is to find patterns and holes in her opponent’s game,” Lehnberg says. “Rose is a technical fighter and likes to fight at a distance from her back leg. But she will have a hard time fighting backwards under pressure.”

The experienced coach is confident that their game plan will secure the ISKA world title.

“It will be a great fight, a chess match,” Lehnberg says. “It’s no secret that we will try to put pressure on her and make her feel uncomfortable. We will ruin her game and make her lose her confidence.”

Another potential advantage is that the title bout is a five-rounder. The longer the fight, the better for the Swede.

“I’m a slow starter and gets sharper as the fight goes,” Persson says. “I like the longer fights.”

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Johanna Persson. Photo: Chris Önnerby

Johanna Persson won at AFN

Johanna Persson and her coach seem to work very well together as the Gävle fighter had a great 2024 so far.

In March, she won her fourth Swedish Muay Thai championships, and a few weeks back fought in Swedish MMA promotion Allstars Fight Night, in their first Muay Thai bout ever.

At AFN 6 defeated European WMC champion Magdalena Pircher and was awarded with a 10 000 SEK post-fight bonus.

“It was so much fun,” Persson says about fighting in the cage. “It was definitely a new experience and gave me a couple of new angles on fighting. I would love to do it again.”

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