Johnny Walker revealed the secret to waking up happier than a billionaire.
Winless in his last three fights, the once highly-touted light heavyweight contender will look to climb back into the win column on June 7 when he returns to the Octagon at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey. There, the Brazilian will square off with undefeated Russian standout Azamat Murzakanov.
Appearing on the JAXXON Podcast with former UFC champion Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Walker spoke about finding happiness in one’s life.
“Wake up is better than have billions dollar off your account 100%,” Walker said. “So wake up like a billionaire every day, you know, and this the secret, one of the secret of life, this why I live better and happy.”
Johnny Walker details injury that took him out of January return
Originally, Walker was scheduled to face Bogdan Guskov at UFC 311, but a freak injury while training forced him to bow out of the bout.
“It was nothing stupid,” Walker told MMA Junkie in January. “I was doing the last sparring, very technical, timing. I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. It was hard sparring, but very conscious. I was trying to get out of a jiu-jitsu position and throw myself, like a normal thing, and then I felt my ribs pop. I said, ‘OK, stop, stop, stop.’ I think something happened to my ribs. Then I tried to keep fighting, I stood up again, started moving. I was like, ‘Wait, something’s wrong.’ Then I had to stop to check what happened so it doesn’t get worse.
“Then I got an X-ray the next day. The UFC got the results, and then they pulled me out after that. They knew how bad the injury was. I got the notice and was devastated because I was trying so hard. So much effort and so much timing. …I’m doing a lot of physiotherapy to heal. You can’t do much with rib injuries. You just have to stop, wait, and let it heal. It takes time, four to six weeks, and I’ll be back on track. It is what it is. I’ve never hurt my ribs before.”
First entering the Octagon in 2018, Walker immediately made waves with a trio of impressive victories. Since then, he’s struggled to stay in the win column with his biggest streak ending at three, defeating Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig, and Anthony Smith between 2022 and 2023.
In his last three outings, he went to a no-contest with Magomed Ankalaev before suffering a second-round TKO against the current UFC light heavyweight champion in a rematch three months later.
Walker was then brutally knocked out in his last appearance against Volkan Oezdemir in June, dropping him to 7-6 inside the Octagon.
