Johnny Walker and Dominick Reyes were heavily criticized for their UFC 327 clash on April 11, and the Brazilian admits he’s “very disappointed” with his performance. The Miami crowd chanted “this is boring” while they were still fighting inside the octagon, and again booed when Reyes was announced the winner via split decision.
Walker finally broke silence on the fight on Thursday night on his social media page, saying he knows “I could do way better than that.”
“I’m very disappointed with my performance,” Walker said on a video posted on Instagram. “There was a lot of movement, a lot of technical work, nobody wanna take the risk, either me or Dominick Reyes. I know I could do way better than that, that’s not my best. I was so well-prepared, like physically and mentally too, but that wasn’t me. I know I can do better than that. I’m very disappointed with my performance.”
Walker said he will take a week off to heal a swollen foot and get back to the gym and prepare for his next fight, which could be in a different division. Prior to the bout, Walker told MMA Fighting he was contemplating a move to heavyweight.
“I don’t know which division I’m gonna fight [next], but probably gonna be maybe at heavyweight, I don’t know. Let’s see,” Walker said. “But I just wanna say sorry for my fans and you guys know that I can do better than that. And I will do better than that next time.”
“I’m disappointed with my performance,” he continued. “I know a lot of people are too, but it’s just one more day at work at the highest level. Nobody want to take the risk. I try a lot to find the range. I try engage as much as I can. I put a lot of pressure. I don’t think could go either way, you know, but even if I win the fight, I would be very disappointed with my performance because I know I can finish, I know I can have way more technical work like jiu-jitsu, wrestling and striking, to show and to use than I did on that fight.”
Walker now holds a UFC record of 8-7 with one no contest after being victorious in only one of his past five bouts. The 34-year-old veteran was on a three-fight winning streak prior to that, beating Anthony Smith, Paul Craig and Ion Cutelaba.
Check his full statement below.
I’m here, home, safe, no injury. Still a bit sore foot. And I’m very disappointed with my performance. There was a lot of movement, a lot of technical work, nobody wanna take the risk, either me or Dominick Reyes. I know I could do way better than that, that’s not my best. I was so well-prepared, like physically and mentally too, but that wasn’t me. I know I can do better than that. I’m very disappointed with my performance.
I’m gonna take one week off just my foot get a little bit swollen down, get back to the gym, training and get ready for the next one. I don’t know which division I’m gonna fight, but probably gonna be maybe at heavyweight, I don’t know. Let’s see. But I just wanna say sorry for my fans and you guys know that I can do better than that. And I will do better than that next time.
I’m disappointed with my performance. I know a lot of people are too, but it’s just one more day at work at the highest level. Nobody want to take the risk. I try a lot to find the range. I try engage as much as I can. I put a lot of pressure. I don’t think could go either way, you know, but even if I win the fight, I would be very disappointed with my performance because I know I can finish, I know I can have way more technical work like jiu-jitsu, wrestling and striking, to show and to use than I did on that fight.
I just want to say sorry for you guys, everybody that’s my fan and follows me on my career. You know, sometimes it doesn’t happen, we don’t connect, we just don’t flow. We just come back home and get stronger and try better next time. But I thank for all the support, thank for everybody that’s cheering for me. This is just the beginning my friends. I’m gonna keep coming and I’m gonna keep doing better every time, I promise.
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