Johnny Walker: I’ll Knock Jon Jones Out If He Fights Me The Way He Did Thiago Santos
Johnny Walker has been the talk of the light heavyweight division for the past several months.
Walker has been laying waste to his opponents inside the Octagon rather quickly. He was recently sidelined due to an injury suffered inside the Octagon in his recent outing. However, the injury didn’t occur due to damage inflicted by his opponent, or damage he inflicted on himself while damaging his opponent.
Instead, Walker was injured while doing the worm as his post-fight celebration. Now that the young Brazilian has been medically cleared to return to the Octagon, he continues to hype an eventual clash with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Due to his early dominance, many have speculated that Walker could be the man to finally give “Bones” a run for his money inside the cage.
Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Walker addressed Jones’ most recent performance inside the Octagon at UFC 239, where Jones just edged out Walker’s fellow countryman, Thiago Santos, via split decision. Walker said that, if Jones fights him the way he did Santos, he’s going to knock the 205-pound king out:
“I think he can do much better than that,” Walker said. “He definitely has to do more against me, otherwise I’ll knock him out in the first round. I think ‘Marreta’ was a great challenge.
“But ‘Marreta’ got hurt in the first round. Jones is the champion and would obviously win if it went to the scorecards, so I think he took his foot off the gas and the fight went the way you saw.”
Jones has been critical of the mixed martial arts (MMA) community for hyping a fight between himself and a virtually unknown fighter who hasn’t yet defeated a top-ranked opponent. He recently posted the following on Twitter:
“You guys want me to fight someone who is unknown to the general public and hasn’t even fought a top 10 opponent yet? Think about it. Besides if I beat him in December, what would everyone have to look forward to?”
Walker believes Jones is simply scared of getting beat by an unknown fighter, and how much such an occurrence would tarnish his legacy:
“Well, he’s right,” Walker said. “I still haven’t done much (in the UFC). But there aren’t many guys who would give me a big challenge. I don’t have to beat a top 5. People talk too much crap, man.
“People say I don’t have jiu-jitsu, I don’t have wrestling. They say I have to fight a wrestler. The last wrestler I fought lasted five seconds. I’m ready for him and I know I’d be a big challenge. I think he’s afraid to lose to an unknown guy.”
Do you think Walker is the man to finally defeat Jones inside of the Octagon?
