Johnny Walker’s hype train was violently derailed by Corey Anderson at UFC 244 in November. But, the light-heavyweight contender’s still adamant he can beat Anderson. In fact, in a recent interview Walker did, the dynamic fighter claimed issues with his coach played a key role in his devastating loss.
Walker reports having problems with his coach and team
Leading up to UFC 244, there was buzz about Walker securing a title fight with Jon Jones. After all, Walker needed less than three minutes – total – in his first three bouts to take out Khali Rountree, Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov.
But, Anderson had other plans for the Walker, and he proceeded to stop the latter with a flurry of strikes in the opening round. Leading into the fight, most people understood that Walker was going to be challenged by the powerful wrestler. But not too many people saw Anderson finishing the feared striker on his feet.
Well, fast forward to today, and Walker is booked to fight Nikita Krylov at UFC Brasilia, March 14th. During a recent interview with “The Schmo“, Walker was asked about his loss to Anderson, and he said the following (quotes via MMA Mania):
”I don’t accept this loss because I can beat him,” Walker said. “I know that. But I had a little problem during the fight, fight week as well, before the fight some stress with my team. So I learned a lot and it’s not going to happen again.”
”I don’t train with my old coach any more because the problem is with him,” he continued. “During fight week he stressed me out twice and before the fight he almost hurt my shoulder because he don’t know how to hold the pad properly. We don’t match too well on fight week. For a long time I start having these, you know, because we live together, about respect as well. Somethings are not getting met. So now I have no coach and I’m trying to go to Tristar and look for a new coach and new experience and new guys. And I’m ready to restart again.”
It will be interesting to see how fans and observers react to Walker’s comments here. Will some argue he’s making excuses for the loss? Or is he reporting a real issue that impacted his ability to be at his best?
Walker has big plans for Tristar
Now Walker (17-4) is about to begin the next chapter of his career, and it remains to be seen if and how the Tristar team will enhance his game. But, while talking about his upcoming fight with Krylov, Walker stated:
”I’ll be ready. I’m going to train hard there, gonna learn as much as I can, I’m gonna beat Nikita Krylov.”
That is a fight that has must-see written all over it. Krylov (26-7) is also coming off a loss, as he dropped a split decision to perennial contender Glover Teixeira in his last outing.
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