Johnny Walker Reveals the Only Two Fights He Would Never Accept at Heavyweight
Johnny Walker is willing to face anyone in the UFC's heavyweight division, but there are two fighters he has no interest in sharing the Octagon with.
The Brazilian has been on a back-to-back knockout winning streak since moving up from light heavyweight. The 34-year-old's latest win came when he stopped then-No. 6-ranked Waldo Cortes-Acosta with a head kick and follow-up punches in the third round at UFC Vegas 124. This improved his professional record to 24-10.
Johnny Walker Rules Out Fighting Alexander Volkov
Johnny Walker has no interest in facing No. 2-ranked heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov, who trains alongside him in Las Vegas and also was seen in his corner during his victory over Cortes-Acosta in UFC Vegas 124.
This past Monday, MMA journalist James Lynch from Home of Fight asked Walker in an interview whether he would ever consider fighting Volkov.
"Yeah, we never talk about this, but no, I have no interest to fight him. He's a good guy, good training partner," Walker said.
So far, the Russian has won seven of his last eight UFC fights. He has also previously beaten Cortes-Acosta by unanimous decision. However, Walker has admitted that the two have never discussed the Dominican before their recent matchup, as he accepted the fight on just nine days' notice.
The former light heavyweight contender also cleared it up that he wasn't fully prepared for his last fight, even though he still managed to become the first fighter to finish Cortes-Acosta in the UFC.
Johnny Walker Also Refuses to Fight Half-Brother Valter Walker
The second fighter that Walker revealed was his younger half-brother Valter, who also competes in the UFC heavyweight division. So far, the 28-year-old has won five back-to-back fights by first-round submission, most recently tapping out Thomas Petersen with a calf slicer at UFC Abu Dhabi in July.
When Lynch brought up the possibility of both brothers facing each other in the octagon, Walker quickly dismissed the idea. He said:
"There's two guys in the division that I don't need to fight, don't need to worry about. So that's two less that I have to worry about."
However, apart from the two names the Brazilian put on the table, he is ready to face anyone the promotion puts in front of him.
Furthermore, the 34-year-old has shown interest in facing Josh Hokit, who is booked to challenge heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 334 on Saturday night. Walker expects Gane to retain the title and believes Hokit would be a good opponent for him afterward.
For now, the Brazilian plans to spend his free time in Ireland with his family before returning to the training camp. He has no fights scheduled yet but hopes to complete a full camp before stepping back into the Octagon.
