Johnny Walker fires back at critics of Thiago Santos fight: “People that called it boring are the ones that sit on the couch to drink beer”

Johnny Walker fired back at critics of the Thiago Santos fight, saying his critics are the “ones that sit on the couch to drink beer.”

Walker and Santos met earlier this month in the main event of UFC Vegas 38. In a light heavyweight battle between two knockout artists, fans were expecting both men to go for broke and for someone to get brutally knocked out. But the fight was anything but, as both men showed an incredible amount of respect for each other. The two Brazilians went the full 25 minutes, with Santos edging out a close decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Following the fight, you have fans, media, and even fellow fighters labeled the Walker vs. Santos fight as boring, and now Walker is firing back. Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Walker shot back at his critics, suggesting that they did not understand his strategy.

“You know that at this level, the biggest promotion in the world, (against) one of the best strikers in the world, you have to know how to get in and get out, to hit and defend, the right timing and strategy. There are so many things involved. People that called it boring are the ones that sit on the couch to drink beer and watch fights as entertainment. That’s the type of people that buy pay-per-views, but they aren’t the ones that understand about fighting. I don’t pay attention to that,” Walker said. “I had a game plan for (the way) he fights all his fights. He always attacks and takes risks, but this time he didn’t. He didn’t take risks, and I was planning on countering, to catch him when he came in, but he wasn’t coming forward that much and I wasn’t letting him come in because I was feinting a lot, so it was a very technical, high-level fight. We both studied hard since anyone could go down with a good (punch).”

Do you agree with Johnny Walker that those who criticized his fight against Thiago Santos cannot appreciate a technical MMA striking match?