LAS VEGAS – A rare submission over a solid grappler in only 30 seconds? Not bad for someone who wasn’t even expecting a finish.

At Friday’s TUF 26 Finale, Brett Johns (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) became only the second UFC fighter to pull off a calf slicer submission. More impressively, the 25-year-old got it over the ground-savvy Joe Soto (18-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC), who was riding a three-fight winning streak into the bout.

It’s not that Johns didn’t have confidence in that part of his game. After all, just because he doesn’t take part in grappling tournaments like Soto, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the chops.

“I grapple every day of my life,” Johns said after the FS1-televised bantamweight bout, which opened the main card at Park Theater in Las Vegas. “I do it sometimes three times a day. Just because I don’t show it in a grappling tournament, doesn’t mean I don’t it. And I grapple with the best guys in the world.”

But the Welsh fighter will admit that he wasn’t exactly anticipating the 15th win of his perfect professional record, which now includes three UFC wins, to come with such an exclamation point.

“I wasn’t expecting (a finish), to be honest,” Johns said. “I’m sort of known for being a decision fighter. But every guy I seem to face that I think is a step up, I perform. Back in the old Titan FC days, when I fought for the Titan FC old title, I fought a guy called Walel Watson. (He) was the first UFC vet I fought. I finished him.

“And tonight was the same. I felt (Albert) Morales and (Kwan Ho) Kwak, the first two UFC fights, were good opponents. Up-and-comers. But Joe has been there and done it. Obviously to get a finish over him was amazing. What can I say? It’s a great time for me, I’m happy.”

As for the calf-slicer, Johns had tried numerous times before. This time, thankfully, it worked. The key, Johns said, was recalling a detail that had eluded him when he was going through the same submission a few weeks before at the gym.

“The mistake I was doing to get to the detail was going over the foot and trying to get the foot down,” Johns said. “Instead of going over the foot instead of putting the toes down. And that”s all I could remember though the whole transition, ‘Pull the toes down.’ And I just pulled until I’d seen the tap.

“It was one of them things when I was thinking, ‘Is it actually on?’ Because he held on for so long. He was tough and he was durable. Then I felt the tap and was ecstatic.”

As far as his octagon future goes, Johns still needs to look into the UFC’s top-15 rankings. But, off the top of his head, the Welsh does see potential in a matchup with the unranked Cody Stamman – fresh off a win over touted French prospect Tom Duquesnoy.

But that’s a concern for later. For now, Johns’ plan is to make the most of his first visit to Las Vegas.

“If I don’t wake up with Mike Tyson’s tiger in my bedroom, I’m going to be disappointed tomorrow morning,” Johns joked.

To hear more from Johns on the submission, being undefeated and what the future holds, check out the video above.

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.