Withdrawing from UFC 311 was a troublesome pill to swallow for Johnny Walker.
Walker (21-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) was looking for latest life ahead of his light heavyweight matchup against Bogdan Guskov this past Saturday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., but he was forced out on account of a “bad injury.”
Walker was within the midst of an enormous life change after deciding to go away Dublin, Ireland for the U.S. and produce his family with him. So when he could now not compete, it weighed heavily on him.
“Yeah, that was really hard for me,” Walker told MMA Junkie in an interview facilitated by OnlyFans. “It was rather a lot for me because I just moved from Ireland. I spent the last 4 years in Ireland training at SBG under John Kavanagh. Then I moved country, I brought my wife, my baby, and my dog to a brand new country, a brand new house. I had to complete the home, make a number of bags and aside of that, I began a training camp in a brand new environment with latest coaching and latest training partners. It was rather a lot.
“I used to be so committed to training. I went to Gilroy, trained with DC, did a number of sparring with Strickland in Vegas at Xtreme Couture, trained with Eric, a brand new coach. I put a number of effort into making this fight occur. It was a number of stress, mentally and physically. I put a number of myself into this camp. Around all of this example, I invested a number of money. Then something happened. I used to be very upset because I put a lot effort and time and money to make this occur, but we cannot control.”
Walker revealed that it was a rib injury that forced UFC doctors to drag him from the fight.
“It was nothing silly,” Walker said. “I used to be doing the last sparring, very technical, timing. I wasn’t attempting to hurt anybody. It was hard sparring, but very conscious. I used to be attempting to get out of a jiu-jitsu position and throw myself, like a traditional thing, after which I felt my ribs pop. I said, ‘OK, stop, stop, stop.’ I feel something happened to my ribs. Then I attempted to maintain fighting, I stood up again, began moving. I used to be like, ‘Wait, something’s improper.’ Then I needed to stop to envision what happened so it doesn’t worsen.
“Then I got an X-ray the subsequent day. The UFC got the outcomes, after which they pulled me out after that. They knew how bad the injury was. I got the notice and was devastated because I used to be trying so hard. A lot effort and a lot timing. …I’m doing a number of physiotherapy to heal. You possibly can’t do much with rib injuries. You only need to stop, wait, and let it heal. It takes time, 4 to 6 weeks, and I’ll be back heading in the right direction. It’s what it’s. I’ve never hurt my ribs before.”
Walker, who’s targeting a return in April or May, is grateful for the time he spent training under John Kavanagh at SBG. Nevertheless, he explained why he didn’t feel just like the training environment was suited to him.
“We had the most effective coach there. John was a really high-level coach,” Walker said. “He did the most effective for me. He improved my game rather a lot, but I just had one or two training partners. The last fight against (Volkan) Oezdemir, I used to be adapting myself to prepare as best as I could for the fight. I used to be doing boxing sparring within the ring. … Within the fight, you possibly can see I brought him near the fence, which was improper because I used to be sparring within the ring. You possibly can’t spar within the ring and fight within the octagon. It’s totally different. Within the octagon, in case you step near the fence, the guy goes to take you down, or the guy goes to knock you out because if you’re near the fence, it’s the worst place to be. The guy (Oezdemir) knocked me out because I brought him to the fence.
“That is the worst thing you possibly can do in MMA. The environment wasn’t perfect for MMA. At SBG, I had only one training partner. Here in Vegas, I actually have the UFC PI for strength and conditioning, for nutrition, for recovery. At Xtreme Couture, I actually have high-level guys between top 10 and top 15. Light heavyweight and heavyweight, and Sean Strickland. Day-after-day I actually have a high-level guy to coach with. You wish challenges, and now at Xtreme, I actually have that challenge. …I actually have all the things now for recovery, for nutrition, for training, coaching. Now the sunshine heavyweights are in trouble. Now you’re going to have the most effective version of Johnny Walker because I’m just going to be higher. Now my profession goes to fly.”
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