Denis Goltsov has been close to the top of the Professional Fighters League mountain, but he has yet to claim gold on his journey. The longtime PFL veteran has only suffered three defeats in the organization, with all three coming in the playoffs and the most recent coming to Renan Ferreira in the 2023 heavyweight final.

With yet another PFL regular season behind him and having clinched a playoff berth that sees him as the top seed in the heavyweight division, Goltsov is out to change the narrative and become world champion. Speaking to Sherdog ahead of his semifinal matchup against Tim Johnson in the PFL 7 main event this Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, Goltsov discussed his latest campaign and why he believes this is the year he will finally claim gold.

While he admitted that the season didn’t get off to the start he would’ve liked, Goltsov is happy with things heading into the playoffs.

“The season started not in the best way. It started a little bit slow,” he said. “However, after the first fight, it started getting better. Now, I’m continuing my camp. Right now, I feel great. Everything is on point, and I’m ready to fight.”

In preparing for a veteran like Johnson, who made the most of his short-notice opportunity and clinched a playoff berth, Goltsov says he wasn’t thoroughly impressed with the American’s victory over Danilo Marques.

“At the end of the day, Tim had his best competitive days already,” he said. “He fought some of the biggest names in the sport. However, experience is what helped him win in his last fight. He’s a very experienced fighter. He’s very knowledgeable. He wasn’t in great shape or anything, but that didn’t matter because his experience took over and gave him a win.”

Goltsov paid respect to Johnson for how he carries himself as a professional athlete and person but thinks this is his time to seize the moment. Having faced veteran competition throughout the 2024 regular season, Goltsov believes this year was made for him to finally become champion.

“Every year starts a similar way,” he said. “I’m confident. I’m winning and winning, then something is not there. I’m hoping this year all the stars will align and I can use all those millimeters of instinct to be able to actually achieve that title and finally get it.”

Having come up short in three previous PFL seasons, getting over the hump and achieving gold is something Goltsov knows could come to fruition thanks to self-realization.

“The biggest and main thing is self-realization [after] all these years of work,” he said. “I’m a professional fighter. It’s the realization of establishing that goal and putting my last name as a world champion.”