Things did not go as planned for Johnny
Walker in the UFC Fight Night 201 main event.
The 29-year-old Brazilian lost for the fourth time in five outings
on Saturday night, when he suffered a first-round knockout defeat
to Jamahal
Hill in their light heavyweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. While Walker did not attend the post-fight press conference,
he did release a series of statements via social media.
“What’s up, guys? I’m okay,” Walker said in a video on Instagram.
“Just a little cut here. I sleep in the fight so something happened
wrong.”
A competitor on the Brazilian version of Dana White’s Contender
Series, Walker emerged as a prospect to watch at 205 pounds with
three consecutive first-round finishes in his first three Octagon
appearances. He has fallen on hard times since that hot start, with
knockout losses to Corey
Anderson and Hill as well as decision defeats to Nikita
Krylov and Thiago
Santos on his ledger. His lone victory during that time was a
knockout of Ryan Spann at
UFC Fight Night 178.
“It wasn’t my night, congratulations to my opponent,” Walker wrote
in a separate post. “I’ll be back stronger and better soon, never
give up on [your] dreams. Thanks everyone for the support, I’m
fine. On to the next one!”