Johnny Walker has denied faking a glove touch at the start of his UFC Shanghai main event with Zhang Mingyang, a fight the Brazilian ultimately won via stoppage.
Walker battered Zhang with leg kicks to destabilise and floor the Chinese fighter in their light-heavyweight clash on Saturday (23 August), before securing a TKO with a prolonged barrage of strikes on a downed Zhang.
But before that second-round stoppage, underdog Walker had opened the fight by shooting a takedown on Zhang, right after seeming to offer then retract a glove touch.
Fighters tend to touch gloves when they face off and receive instructions from the referee, immediately before a fight starts, as Walker and Zhang did. However, some fighters also touch gloves in the opening seconds of a contest.
Walker has now denied faking a glove touch after many accusations from fans online, although his subsequent takedown attempt was unsuccessful anyway – and resulted in Zhang securing half-guard from above, after almost getting into a threatening mount position.
“We were practising that all the time,” Walker said of the early takedown, speaking to MMA Fighting. “In fact, I didn’t fake anything.
“I went there with my hand up because we had already touched gloves before the fight started. Touch gloves, each one back to their corner, and I wasn’t even looking at his face anymore.
“I went there with my hand hanging and shot for a takedown. I didn’t go there to touch gloves. I wanted to take him down, do that game, but I shot an ugly takedown attempt – my head on the outside.
“He just moved to the side and I went through like a cow, then I pulled guard. I held him, defended a little bit, and went back to the feet again.”
Still, Walker – known for his charismatic personality and eccentric striking skills – defended his grappling abilities.
“I have good wrestling, good jiu-jitsu, but I haven’t fought in a while,” said the 33-year-old, who had last fought in June 2024 and lost to Volkan Oezdemir. “I had no timing either, but you’ll see me wrestle more going forward, doing more jiu-jitsu, taking people down. I have some takedowns, but I really had no timing. But I’m back now.”
In round one, once Walker had stood back up, each fighter had success on the feet, and the Brazilian admitted to being concerned in one moment. “I thought to myself there: ‘F***! If I take another [strike], it’s over,’” Walker said. “Three or four seconds later, I was recovered, I realised I was alright again. I recover very quickly, but if he came like crazy, he could also get caught because I was aware of everything.”
In his post-fight interview, Walker shouted, “I have a chin, motherf*****s!”, and he has now explained that moment of release.
“I said that because everybody’s like, ‘Oh, he has a glass chin,’” Walker said. “These talkers that were never punched in the face, they don’t understand we have a life commitment with our careers. Our families depend on us, we train every day, it’s an investment for life here. And some fans talk a ton of crap [without] ever getting punched in the face.
“These bums come talk crap at us when we get knocked out. We’re fighting the best in the world, brother; one punch from one of these guys can knock anyone out, you know? You saw that. I kicked him once and broke his leg. The bone must have touched the other bone and broke it.” It is unconfirmed that Zhang sustained a broken leg,
