Johnny Walker believes he’s two big finishes away from a potential title opportunity.
After coming up short in his last two outings, Walker returns to the main event spotlight at UFC Shanghai on August 23. There, the Brazilian knockout artist will take on streaking Chinese standout Mingyang Zhang.
Throughout his six-year run with the UFC, Walker has scored highlight-reel knockouts against the likes of Khalil Rountree Jr, Ryan Spann, Ion Cutelaba, and Paul Craig. He’ll look to add another impressive finish to his resume in The Middle Kingdom, but Walker isn’t spilling any secrets as to how he plans to accomplish that task against Zhang.
“I’m going to win my friend, but I’m not going to tell you why, because maybe he’s watching this interview,” Walker told James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview. “Everybody is spying today, you know. People watch stories, videos, and everything, but be ready, my man. I’m going to finish this fight. You don’t know what’s coming for you, but it’s coming.”
After coming up short against reigning light heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev and Volkan Oezdemir in his last two outings, Walker finds himself sitting just outside the division’s top 10, occupying the No. 12 spot.
But despite his recent struggles inside the Octagon, Walker believes he can put together a title run, and it all starts with handing the ‘Mountain Tiger’ his first UFC defeat.
“I want to keep going — definitely a title run now. I want to fight someone in the top five after this and one more finish, hopefully a title shot, but let’s see how things play out,” Walker said. “Maybe I need to finish two more fights, maybe three. I don’t know. You see, when Khalil Rountree fought for the title, he was [ranked] number eight, so we’ll see what happens. I’m gonna do my best to get my hands on this belt.”
Walker also revealed that he has five fights left on his current contract, giving him plenty of time and security to string together some wins before returning to the negotiating table.
Johnny Walker Hopes to See Magomed Ankalaev Flex His Wrestling Skills in Alex Pereira Rematch
While Walker has his hands full with Zhang, the Brazilian bruiser will undoubtedly have his eyes on October’s recently-announced rematch between Ankalaev and former two-division titleholder Alex Pereira.
‘Poatan’ surrendered his 205-pound crown to Ankalaev in March, prompting the promotion to book an immediate rematch between the two, which will go down at UFC 320 in Las Vegas.
Asked about rumors of Ankalaev training at Walker’s home gym, Xtreme Couture, the 30-fight veteran said:
“I know where he usually trains. It’s close by [Las Vegas] as well. He’s probably gonna go there for this camp, but may he visited Xtreme [Couture] as well. I’m not sure, but I don’t want to train with someone that I’m probably going to fight. Maybe we train after we fight, but not before.
“I fought him twice already, but I think there’s gonna be a third one.”
Walker previously fought Ankalaev to a no-contest before suffering a second-round knockout loss in their January 2024 rematch.
Ankalaev brutally knocks out Johnny Walker pic.twitter.com/rUnywxhOWq
— ❂ (@Sa_Gwang) May 8, 2024
As for how he sees the highly anticipated rematch playing out, Walker believes that a striking match likely favors Pereira, but things could get very interesting if they use more than their fists on fight night.
“Bro, it’s so weird because everyone talks about [Ankalaev’s] wrestling, but I haven’t seen him put anybody down using the wrestling to win fights,” Walker said. ” He’s a striker, and if he strikes again against Pereira, all Pereira has to do is strike too. Of course, he trains in jiu-jitsu, but we have something inside us. I’m a striker too, but when you go, you just want to strike because you enjoy it. It feels comfortable, but we train everything.
“I’m a good wrestler, good jiu-jitsu. I just need to use it more, but you always rely on something that you feel more comfortable with. Ankalaev and Pereira, they rely on striking. I believe if they use all the martial arts, the fight will play out very differently because both of them are very different style and I believe Ankalaev has a little bit more wrestling, but I’m not sure. I would like to see that.”
Check out the full exclusive interview between:
