Johnny Walker is looking to get his plans back on track after his loss to Volkan Oezdemir.
The main card of UFC on ABC 6 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday featured a light heavyweight bout between Walker and Oezdemir, with the Swiss veteran brutally knocking Walker unconscious with a final blow at 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the first round.
Walker spoke candidly about the loss, while also admitting that he suffered no permanent injuries. The Brazilian felt something was off in his head, even though everything was perfect before the match. Walker now plans to rewatch the match to try to figure out what went wrong.
“I’m OK, just got a little bruised lip… just got home with the little champ. Not a very good night for me,” Walker said in an Instagram video. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve got to watch the fight again and think about what I did. I just feel like my head wasn’t in the right position going into the fight. I was feeling great, had a really good training camp, really strong. Everything was going well.” [weight] The cut was a little tough, but that’s normal. I just didn’t realize I was in a fight. But the most important thing is my little baby here. I’m going to come back safe for him, take good care of him, and come back stronger. Spend some time with my family, have fun with my wife and baby… I’ll come back stronger.”
Walker is at a crossroads in his UFC career, having his three-fight winning streak snapped when his bout against Russian Magomedov Ankalaev at UFC 294 in October 2023 was called off for an illegal knee. In a rematch at UFC Fight Night 234 on January 13, Ankalaev defeated Walker by knockout in the second round.
