Johnny Walker is a lot of things.
He's energetic. He's exciting. And he's occasionally so loose with his fundamentals that he leaves himself open for big shots, which makes him equally compelling.
What he's typically not is methodical.
But that's precisely the path he took in Saturday's co-main, gradually taking about Anthony Smith's lead leg with powerful kicks and ultimately punishing the 34-year-old to the head and body enough to secure a unanimous decision across three tactical rounds.
"I wanted to prove myself," Walker said. "I wanted to finish him quickly, but I wanted to defend, to land shots, to recover, to show all my skills."
He did nearly everything across 15 minutes with Smith, who was making his 17th UFC appearance overall and eighth since a title-fight loss to then-205-pound champ Jon Jones at UFC 235 in March 2019.
Walker landed 51 leg kicks, most to the area surrounding Smith's left knee, which was reddened and swollen by the third round and clearly limited his mobility.
"Anybody can get hurt there," Walker said. "If you don't block, you're gonna get hurt, and it'll stop your mobility. It can get nasty."
Already ranked seventh, Walker is likely to enter the Top 5 by virtue of his win over No. 5 Smith, and he exited the cage after Saturday's win to chat up current champ Jamahal Hill.
Hill stopped Walker in one round in a Fight Night main event in February 2022.
Asked what he said in their exchange, Walker said, "I'll see you at the top. I'm coming."
