Johnny Walker Has Some Interesting Takes on How Jon Jones Fight Might Go

Due to Johnny Walker’s height, reach, and ridiculously, dangerous striking, many have argued the rising light-heavyweight could provide Jon Jones a stiff test. But, clearly the Brazilian fighter believes his path to defeating Jones doesn’t necessarily, include his stand-up.

Buzz about Walker

It hasn’t taken Walker long to generate a ton of hype in the broader, MMA world, following his UFC arrival in 2018. After scoring a win on Dana White’s Contender Series, Walker took out Khalil Rountree in less than two minutes, in what was his UFC debut. Since then, the 27-year-old has needed less than a minute total to finish Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov.

Well, due to the fact Walker is 6’5 tall, and because of his explosive and unorthodox stand-up, folks are already talking about him fighting Jones. The rising fighter has said himself that he’s ready to face the renowned champ.

Recent comments about how a fight with Jones could play out

While Walker likely still needs a win or two before a bout with Jones can materialize, he continues to field questions about it. While appearing on the “Eurobash” podcast recently, Walker had this to say about how Jones’s split decision win over Thiago Santos, and how a fight with the champ might go. (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“… Jon Jones has a very good control game and he doesn’t want to risk himself because he knows Thiago has good hands and he had power to knock him out. But Thiago injured both knees, a bad injury, he needs a lot of surgery. Jon Jones need a lot of time to beat a guy with a lot of injuries.”

“I know Jon Jones can do better than that, and that’s why I want to fight him — I know I can give him the proper fight. I can push him to fight better and then everyone will see who Jon Jones is, then everyone can see who is the real champion.”

“I could use his style as well. He can take me down, but I can take him down as well. I could give him a proper ground fight, nobody has been able to give him any punishment on the ground, I think I can punish him on the ground.”

How about that huh? Now, since we haven’t seen much of Walker’s wrestling or ground game in the Octagon, it might be tempting to scoff at the idea of him taking Jones down. The champ has outstanding wrestling, and we’ve never seen Jones in trouble really, working off his back.

But, Walker’s comments here are interesting, nonetheless. Could we see more of Walker’s offensive arsenal in his next bout? Is there another dangerous, dimension to his game? If so, calls for him to fight Jones sooner than later will only get louder.