After losing his middleweight title in a brutal manner against Israel Adesanya in the recently concluded rematch at UFC 287, Alex Pereira made an announcement yesterday that he is moving up to the light-heavyweight division. Poatan revealed this news on his YouTube channel.
It is needless to say that his decision to move up a weight class created a buzz as light-heavyweight rivals started to call out the former 185-pound champion on social media. Hot prospect Johnny Walker is one of the fighters who has entertained the idea of welcoming Alex Pereira into the 205-pound division.
“Let’s come. Everyone is going to have to welcome him. Whatever it takes, I’m happy to [fight him]. This is what I do for a living. I don’t pick fights. Whatever UFC books for me I accept and I’ll be happy. I make the Top 10, go there, mission accomplished.”
Currently, Johnny Walker is #7 in the light heavyweight division and has his hands full as he faces former title challenger Anthony Smith at UFC Fight Night on May 13th. Therefore the hard-hitting light heavyweight contender will have to get past this tough challenge before getting his chance against Alex Pereira inside the octagon.
Johnny Walker shares his thoughts on the UFC 287 rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya
While having a conversation with MiddleEasy, Johnny Walker praised Israel Adesanya’s striking defense and was critical of Alex Pereira’s style of fighting in the title rematch at UFC 287.
“It was really good. I like [Adesanya’s] defense. When I watched the replay in slow motion Pereira was with his hands way low. You can’t have very good attack and not much defense. I was like this before. I was full attack and no defense and this is why I got caught. I can knock anybody out, but can I protect myself? If you don’t protect yourself it’s what happens. You get knocked out.”
Walker’s comments on suggesting Poatan improve his striking defense didn’t go very well as many fight fans on Twitter blasted him for this take. Because a few fights ago the Brazilian light-heavyweight suffered a vicious 30-second knockout loss against Jamahal Hill. Here are some of the reactions of fight fans following Johnny Walker’s comments on Pereira.
Take your own advice pic.twitter.com/63gawU2dEm
— King Figgy 🇮🇳🇺🇸 (@ChampFiggy) April 14, 2023
Johnny Walker talking about defense? pic.twitter.com/5JcteQMNWe
— Alebongo "Bris Bross" The Frog🛰🌚👾 (@BrisFrog) April 14, 2023
Johnny Walker talking about people working on their defense pic.twitter.com/WksEdngl5Y
— Connor Peña (@AJenkinsBrother) April 14, 2023
It would be interesting to see how a fight between Alex Pereira and Johnny Walker plays out as they are both dangerous strikers and have tremendous knockout power. However, as said earlier, Walker needs to focus on his upcoming matchup and win against Anthony Smith.
