Johnny Walker is Definitely Full of Surprises

I told Johnny Walker I was a fan before we even started the interview. Probably not the most professional opener. But if you’ve watched the man fight, you understand.

Walker is one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC, and he’s about to get his biggest stage at heavyweight. He headlines UFC Vegas 124 on Saturday, November 7 (Sunday, November 8 in the Philippines), against Waldo Cortes-Acosta at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. He took the fight after Sean Brady’s injury knocked Gabriel Bonfim vs. Brady off the top of the card.

It’s only Walker’s second fight at heavyweight. He debuted in the division on October 3 at UFC 332, where he knocked out Mick Parkin with a knee.

Ahead of fight week, I sat down with Walker over Zoom, courtesy of Disney+ Philippines. We talked anime, a degree he almost finished, and a knee he swears he never practices.

It started with Dragon Ball Z

So when did Johnny Walker know he loved to fight? Way earlier than you’d think.

“I think when I was very young, like four, five years old, when I started watching Dragon Ball Z, or Yu Yu Hakusho,” he said. He also reached for an older show, the one with the zodiac knights, before giving up on the title. “Anyways, when I was a student, small, I was always play fighting with my friends.”

The apple hasn’t fallen far, either. His son is two years and five months old, already watches anime with his dad, and already knows how to throw a punch.

His favorite sparring partner? The family’s sausage dog.

“He’s bigger than the sausage dog, but he always climbs on him, like wrestling with him,” Walker said, laughing. “My son liked fighting earlier than me.”

The dog, for the record, was not available for comment.

The chemical engineer who picked the cage

Liking fights and fighting for a living are two different things. For Walker, the switch flipped at around 20 or 21, when he finally started training.

“I started learning very quickly, started competing, winning quickly,” he said. “I was outstanding the other students too quickly.”

The problem was that he was also studying chemical engineering at the time. Six months in, he had to choose.

“I cannot do both. So I have to pick one: I want to be an engineer, or I want to be a fighter. You know, here we go.”

It’s hard to picture Johnny Walker in a lab coat after watching him for the past couple of years. Brazil lost a chemical engineer. The UFC got a highlight reel.

A soccer kid who found his way home

Walker stands 6’5″ and moves like a much smaller man, so I had to ask whether he ever tried other sports.

He did. Like most kids in Brazil, he grew up on soccer. He played a little volleyball and basketball, and he did some sprinting and jumping too.

None of it stuck the way fighting did. “I found myself more at home, more like I was supposed to be, in fighting,” he said.

The Kakashi approach

Walker’s style is a big reason Filipino fight fans love him. It’s loose, creative, and a little bit reckless in the best way. So where does it come from?

Naruto, apparently.

“Do you know in Naruto, Kakashi Sensei has the Sharingan, that he copies people’s movements, right? I do this as well,” Walker said.

He picks up moves from the fighters he spars with and the ones he studies, naming Michael “Venom” Page and Anderson Silva.

“I see what they’re doing, and I can do exactly the same. If I practice just a little bit, I can do the same as they do,” he said. “I kind of have this power to copy what people do.”

That copy-and-adapt instinct shapes how he fights on the night, too.

“Every fight is different. You make a game plan, but sometimes the game plan is not going to work, so you have to be creative,” he said. “So I’m very good at improvisation.”

The best proof is the clinch knee. Walker drills flying knees on the pads all the time. Grabbing a training partner’s head and kneeing him in the face is another story.

“You cannot do this in training. You’re gonna hurt somebody,” he said. “I don’t really train that, but I know how to do it. And I have probably three or four knockouts like that, and I don’t even train that.”

Three or four knockouts with a move he doesn’t practice. Heavyweights, take note.

“God has better plans than my plans”

Walker admits this fight came earlier than he planned. The idea was to build slowly at heavyweight and pick the right fight at the right time.

“But God has better plans than my plans,” he said. “This opportunity, He threw it on my chest, and I just hug it and take it.”

He sees Cortes-Acosta, the No. 8-ranked heavyweight, as the right test at the right time.

“He’s very high-ranked, and it’s a good test for the division, because if I go through him, I’ll be ready for the top three or whatever’s next,” Walker said.

Maybe it’s my bias as a fan of entertaining fighters. But in a division where one clean shot changes everything, a guy who improvises for a living doesn’t seem like a bad bet.

Before we wrapped up, Walker had a message for his fans here at home.

“Let’s go, my Philippines fans! Thank you very much. I appreciate you guys’ support,” he said. “I’m gonna be fighting this Saturday, so tune in and have fun.”

Catch Johnny Walker vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 124 on Sunday, November 8, at 9 a.m. Philippine time, streaming on Disney+ Philippines.