Johnny Walker has scratched one heavyweight matchup off the board before anyone in the UFC offices could even pencil it in. In an interview with Home of Fight, Walker said he will not fight Alexander Volkov, a man who has been his training partner in the past, and he didn’t leave much room for negotiation.
“We will never talk about this bout. I have no interest in fighting him (Volkov),” Walker said.
He went a step further and framed it as a perk of the job. “He’s a good guy and a good training partner. There’s two guys in the division that I don’t need to fight. That’s two less that I don’t need to worry about.”
BJPenn.com, which picked up the interview, identified the other name on that short list as Walker’s brother, Valter. Brothers sitting out a sibling fight is about as close to a guarantee as this sport offers. The Volkov pledge is the one that could actually get tested.
Why it matters now
Both men are trending up at the same time, which is usually when promoters start doing math. Walker is coming off a big win over Waldo Cortes Acosta. Volkov’s latest win came against Rizvan Kuniev, and he has been talking about a newfound confidence after his UFC 333 victory. A lot of people believe Volkov beat Ciryl Gane the last time they shared the cage, and his broader UFC resume doesn’t have many soft spots. Even so, no title offer has reached him yet.
The title picture gets a fresh coat of paint this weekend at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden. Gane, who was elevated to lineal heavyweight champion after the Tom Aspinall situation, defends the belt against Josh Hokit in the main event. Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes headline the co-main for the women’s bantamweight title. Hokit has been chirping all week, calling Gane’s approach “coward-based” and adding, “He plays it safe.” Gane, for his part, has been walking back his comments about Aspinall being mentally fragile.
The Walker-Volkov question only turns into a real headache if Volkov finally climbs to the top. If he wears the belt and Walker keeps winning, the UFC would be looking at a contender who has publicly refused to fight the champion. That is the scenario BJPenn.com flagged, and it’s the one worth watching.
Quick take
I’ve lost money on dumber things than the old idea that training partners always end up fighting each other, because history says belts have a way of changing friendships. But Walker didn’t hedge here. There was no talk of timing and no door left cracked for a future conversation. He said never, and he said it like a guy relieved to have a smaller list of problems. If a book hung a prop on Walker vs. Volkov happening in the next two years, I’d lean hard on the no and sleep fine. The more useful bet this week is Gane vs. Hokit at the Garden, because whoever leaves New York with the strap decides whether Volkov’s phone rings next or whether he has to wait behind somebody else.
