Johnny Walker doesn’t believe UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jan Blachowicz is a very skillful fighter.
Walker is scheduled to do battle with Thiago Santos this Saturday night (Oct. 2). The bout will headline UFC Vegas 38. It’s a pivotal bout at 205 pounds. At the end of October, we’ll see Blachowicz put his gold on the line against Glover Teixeira in the UFC 267 headliner.
During an appearance on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour, Walker said he feels his skills outmatch Blachowicz’s.
“Jan, he’s tough. He’s good, he’s the champion but I can beat him 100 percent. He’s not really skillful. He’s strong, he’s tough. I respect him, he’s a champion, right? He beat Adesanya, he got the belt. He’s doing great, but I can do better.”
Walker was on a surge in the UFC before running into Corey Anderson at UFC 244 back in Nov. 2019. Walker lost the fight via first-round TKO and then dropped a unanimous decision to Nikita Krylov. Johnny Walker then transitioned to SBG Ireland. He found success with his first-round knockout win over Ryan Spann back in Sept. 2020.
Walker is hoping to prove that he isn’t a flash in the pan. He’ll get his chance against the struggling Thiago Santos. Since returning from surgery after his herculean effort against Jon Jones, Santos has dropped bouts to Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic.
Time will tell if Walker is ready to handle someone the likes of Santos even at this stage of his career. If so, he’ll be one step closer to a title opportunity although he isn’t likely to get it until he beats some more contenders.
