Johnny Walker walked away from UFC 279 with a win… and also with no shoes.
“UFC Just Came And Kicked Us Out”
Not long after submitting Ion Cutelaba and getting back in the win column, the main card fighter was forced to leave T-Mobile arena after his victory. It was a strange sight to see at the least, with most athletes able to stay and watch the rest of the event they helped build.
This wouldn’t be the case for Walker and his team, however. Walker’s head coach John Kavanagh would explain the whole controversial ordeal following the team’s big rebound win.
“So @ufc just came and kicked us out,” Kavanagh wrote on Twitter. “No tickets for us and not allowed stay back stage to watch. Pulled out back door, kicked out, no even shoes on.”
— Coach JK (@John_Kavanagh) September 11, 2022
Walker Has A Few Words
The Brazilian fan-favorite had a few things to say after being booted from the arena.
“They kick me back to the hotel, like ‘you win the fight, come back motherf*cker.’ I didn’t take my gloves off.”
White Reacts
It wouldn’t take very long for word to reach UFC President Dana White of this incident. Let’s just say the boss was almost as clueless as everybody else.
“I don’t [know what went on],” White said at the UFC 279 press conference. “[Somebody] just told me a little bit about it before we walked in here. I guess ever since COVID, they started this thing where they get the fighters right out of here. I don’t know why that happened or what happened. I mean, we’re not throwing Johnny Walker out in the streets shoeless, I’m sure.
“We f*cking threw him out in the streets, huh?” White later said when he learned Walker was seen barefoot. “It’s rough around here.”
