Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC
Johnny Walker feels ready to get back on track after having his camp at Tristar Gym.
Light heavyweight prospect Johnny Walker had some help from a from a legendary UFC fighter for his next bout at UFC Brasilia.
Paired up against Nikita Krylov for a fight in his home country of Brazil, Walker had his camp at Firas Zahabi’s gym, where he received some pointers from former UFC double champion Georges St-Pierre, who Walker pointed out gave him major tips towards his development; especially on the ground.
In an interview with Combate, Walker said he had the opportunity to train with ‘GSP’ on multiple occasions and wishes to have his next camp at Tristar again, emphasizing how much of a positive experience he had with Zahabi.
“It was very good. I trained with Georges St-Pierre some times. I could really improve my ground game. I noticed that Firas has a lot to teach me, I have much to learn from him, lots to evolve over there. I certainly will have my next camp there, too. I’m prepared, I feel well ahead of the fight and I’m very thrilled to fight.”
Coming off his first UFC loss after three straight knockout wins in the Octagon, Walker comes from a different mindset ahead of his bout against Krylov, but believes he was able to learn from the defeat and feels like the TKO loss to Corey Anderson helped him improve his overall fighting skillset and his mentality, too.
“MMA is an ungrateful sport, right? Two men go in, only one comes out victorious. It’s part of the game. I won’t put my head down. I have to come back and train more so I can have a better result next. It doesn’t affect me much. I learned a lot from my last fight, my loss. It wasn’t a loss, it was a learning experience. I was able to correct some things, part of my team, people who surrounded me, my training. I’m always looking for a way to make things different and in a better way than last time.”
“I always want to improve.” Walker continued. “I always want to bring new stuff to the table, I want to improve myself, my technique, my body, my eating habits. If I want to reach the top, if I want to make a name for myself, to make history, I have to do what other people didn’t. I want to follow the right role models and not make the same mistakes other people made. They made them for me already, I don’t need to make them to find out it’s wrong. I want to follow good examples.”
In his last outing, back in November 2019, Johnny Walker (17-4) suffered a TKO loss to Coreyn Anderson. The defeat snapped a three-fight winning streak for the 27-year-old, who scored knockout wins over Khalil Rountree, Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov.
Now, Johnny Walker is expected to meet Nikita Krylov at UFC Fight Night 170, in Brasilia, Brazil, on March 14. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight bout between contenders Charles Oliveira and Kevin Lee.