Smith warns Walker he’ll ‘beat the s—t out of him’

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith lets Johnny Walker know what’s up in response to his multiple callouts.

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith is no stranger to callouts. He has dealt with them in the past, as several fighters in his division have called for a meeting with him inside the Octagon, but there is one he appears to be getting annoyed by.

Fellow top ranked contender Johnny Walker has asked for a fight with Smith in the past and he repeated his request again recently. At UFC Vegas 11, Walker snapped a two-fight losing streak with a first-round technical knockout over Ryan Spann. In his post-fight interview with UFC color commentator Jon Anik, Walker said Smith could serve as a potential opponent for his next outing sometime in the near future.

Smith was made aware of the callout and responded to Walker on his SiriusXM show with RJ Clifford.

“For whatever reason, that guy wants to fight me,” said Smith. “That’s like the third or fourth time he’s called me out. You know I just want to like — shut up, dude. I’ll beat the s**t out of you. Maybe I’ve lost two in a row, but they’re two of the baddest motherf***kers on the planet, you know what I mean? It’s different. There’s levels to this s**t.”

In his last two fights, Smith has lost to both Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic in back-to-back main event billings. Although a win is needed for Smith, he is unsure of what beating someone like Walker would do for him at this time.

This does not mean he won’t take a fight with him if the UFC offered it, though.

“I would fight Johnny Walker if that’s what the UFC called for, but I’m not gonna go out there and call out Johnny Walker, that’s for godd**n sure,” said Smith. “But he’s exciting, he’s powerful, he’s an athlete, he’s got the perfect frame for the weight class, his build is perfect at least. He is exciting. He is a little bit strange. He’s always been respectful in person. He’s just not that guy. I don’t know what that does for me. Again, I don’t turn down fights, so if the UFC calls and they offer Johnny Walker [then] that’s the fight I’ll take. I would be surprised if they called with Johnny Walker, but I’d take it. It’s just not what I’m chasing, for sure.”

Smith went on to assess the fighting style of Walker and while he did give it some credit, he believes it will “run out at some point” as fundamentals seem to be a problem for Walker. He explained why he sees himself picking up a win over the Brazilian knockout artist.

“Johnny Walker is that kind of guy I feel like you just grab a hold of him and do what you want. I’m not saying it be that easy, he’s a tough guy no matter what. He’s in the UFC for a reason, he’s in the top 15 for a reason, but those are the kind of guys that I shine against. You just walk him down, force him to be fundamental, and not give him the room to be crazy.”