We know it can be hard to keep up with all the up and coming talent in the UFC, but if there’s one fighter on the roster you want to pay more attention to in 2019, Johnny Walker wouldn’t be a bad choice. The Brazilian has fought three times since November of 2018, finishing all his opponents in just under three minutes combined. His latest victim: Misha Cirkunov, who he took out with a flying knee in the first exchange of the fight (watch it here).
And while Walker didn’t take a single shot in that fight, he ended up walking away injured. A victory celebration gone wrong resulted in him faceplanting on the canvas so hard he dislocated his shoulder. He sheepishly admitted as much during his interview with Joe Rogan and the damage was confirmed by Dana White at the post-fight press conference.
”This kid’s special, and I wish he would stop doing that s**t after,” White said. “There’s no upside to celebrating like that after, doing the kick worm or whatever the hell that thing is that he was he was trying to do. It’s unnecessary. You don’t need to do it. What you did was impressive enough.”
”I’m hearing that he’s OK. It’s all I’ve been terrorizing the medical staff about tonight. They’re going to wait until Monday to get him an MRI, because he said he was fine. All the symptoms looked good after the fight. Hopefully, that’s true.”
Walker sees it as nothing more than a preparation issue.
”I have to train more, because I don’t train the celebration,” he told a media scrum shortly after the win (via MMA Fighting). “Everything I train, I do well. Like I train that flying knee, I my the punch, I do them good. But I don’t train the celebration and it goes like this.”
Once his minor shoulder injury heals up, you can expect to see Johnny Walker on another lineup sooner rather than later.
“This guy wants to fight every weekend, which I love,” White said. “When you are a rising star and you have the talent that that guy does, staying active is the best thing for your career. We’re not looking to throw him in against anyone serious any time soon.”
For a company that’s been known to throw its hot prospects to the wolves, that’s a refreshing thing to hear. So keep your eyes peeled for the Johnny Walker show, coming to you every couple of weeks, celebration injuries permitting.