UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker only has one opponent in mind for the future and that’s current champion Jon Jones.
Walker has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months thanks in part to his goofy antics, exciting style, and quick finishes. The 27-year-old’s last three wins have come by way of knockout and lasted a total of 2 minutes and 48 seconds.
Those performances have got fans excited about the Brazilian’s potential with many pegging him as the fighter to inflict the first defeat for Jones down the line. Jones himself has even taken notice of Walker, declaring that they will be facing each other sooner or later.
And Walker is confident of beating what would be his dream opponent.
“Only Jon Jones [is who I have an eye on],” Walker told The Body Lock’s John Hyon Ko. “I grew up watching this guy. I played with him in the UFC game and it [would] make me very happy to fight against him.”
“I would beat him. [But] I want to enjoy the fight. I hope I don’t finish the fight very quickly because I want to enjoy the fight, enjoy the moment. Because this is my dream coming true.”
Jones vs. Santos
Jones will first have to take care of business against Thiago “Marreta” Santos in the main event of UFC 239 in July.
While “Bones” is the favorite, Walker is not ruling his fellow Brazilian out, even though he wants the champion to retain for his own selfish reasons.“
Of course, everybody has shots to beat everybody because everybody is human. If you hit in the right point, you knock out the guy. I hope Jon Jones keeps the belt. I like Marreta. He’s a Brazilian but I hope Jon Jones wins because I want to beat Jon Jones.”
Potential fight in the future
Of course, Walker himself admitted in a previous interview that he would need a few more fights before facing one of the greatest of all time.
He is also currently recuperating from shoulder surgery after dislocating it during his post-fight celebration against Misha Cirkunov at UFC 235 last month.
He expects to be back in two months for a comeback fight, and while he is still ranked #12 in the light heavyweight rankings, Walker hopes to face the winner of the Alexander Gustafsson vs. Anthony Smith fight soon after.
“I have no idea [who wins that fight] because Gustafsson is not the same fighter as before. I don’t know, last fight against Jon Jones, maybe he didn’t feel good, something happened, but you never know.”
“Smith? Smith is good but he’s not good enough. He doesn’t finish fights, I don’t know if he has the power to finish fights. I hope Gustafsson wins, maybe a fight against him after this.”
You can watch the full interview below:
Maybe if he stops injuring himself after his fights he might have a shot against Jones. Maybe.