Anthony Smith vs. Johnny Walker: Part 1 | UFC Journey

Anthony Smith vs. Johnny Walker: Part 1 | UFC Journey In the latest edition of UFC Journey, follow Anthony Smith and Johnny …

I’m a guy that’s going to bring it every single time I’m never going to be in a boring fight I’m focused on the title that’s what this is all about I don’t care about Johnny Walker whatever I have to do to get to a title fight is what I’m going to do my biggest event is against Antonio Smith is why I’m unpredictable style I’m a finisher so I can knock him out or finish him on the first round he’s gonna show that I’m ready to start talk about the championship thank you right now my life is amazing the stability that I have in Ireland with my wife it’s really good because I feel comfortable this is what happened every day for me I wake up and open my eyes I say thank you God one more day and I keep going we met in Thailand and then I flew back to Ireland and we knew each other six days and then on a whim Johnny decided to get on the plane and flew from Thailand to Ireland met my whole family she’s not just my wife she’s my friend she’s my manager she managed my life you know people say that when you you fight a good woman she bring you up you know so I find a good one she’s more realistic and I’m more dreamy you know so we’ll complect each other huh optimistic optimistic optimistic optimistic when I was very young I was a dreamer you know I always want to be something important of my life I was watching Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo Juno sigano these guys inspired me I said imagine if one day I can be somebody like them it’s gonna be so great I realized that this was my calling after my first professional fight most your weight on your shoulder and you should be comfortable staying upright I think it was one or two years in my professional career when I left Brazil to have more opportunities in life by train with different codes before John kavana the results that I was expecting didn’t come and this is why I was flying too much everywhere and tried to find some place to choose to fit me yes Johnny yes Johnny mad at an Irish girl while on holidays in Thailand Tara is now wife did some Googling where he could train while he was in Dublin my names popped up and in walk Johnny Walker right away it was pretty obvious he’s a fairly special athlete for any anime Koji out there you get someone walking in who’s six foot six seems to have zero nerves on Fight Night to go whoa maybe we got something here maybe there’s something big so of course as a coach that’s exciting this guy is gigantic incredibly tall and because he’s so big and powerful when they connect it’s game over precision and power from a six foot five fighter a lot of people think we’re looking at a future Contender if not champion started his UFC career guns plays at 3-0 with three first round Knockouts Johnny command as a bit of a just a scrapper a very good warrior fighter he was getting away with some errors those early wins were not going to be able to be sustained as he went into the top 10. you’re meeting guys that are very skillful very experienced you’re not just going to Blitz through them some of those losses he had where he wasn’t able to Blitz the guy immediately and suddenly he found himself a position that maybe he wasn’t hugely familiar with and that’s been what we’ve been working on the last couple of years first fight that me and Johnny worked together was the Ryan span fight which had a lot happen in mere seconds I think the fight was maybe less than a minute fundamentals of the wrestling and grappling I feel that they’ve improved a lot in in recent months and years that we’ve been together for sure someone like Anthony Smith is going to bring him into areas of his game that he will have to have that easy you’re not putting away a seasoned veteran like Anthony in seconds there is going to be moments where he’s going to have to show some of these new areas of his game good job Anthony Smith he’s a good technical fighter so you know what he’s gonna do like the way that he fight is very traditional no crazy [ __ ] like I do so he’s not gonna surprise me so I’m gonna be ready for him I’m bigger than him I have more rage and I’m very explosive as well and will win against him he’s gonna put him close to the whatever he wants it’s the title shot Anthony has fought everybody in the UFC I’m a admirer of his skill set but I do think we have the tools in the bike to get the Finish against him win especially a finish against a fighter like Anthony Smith it really puts him into that top five that title contention conversation so it’s going to be hard to understand how important this fight is for Johnny’s career your bun grows beyond just coach and athlete we have become very very good friends in the last year or two that was his best man at his wedding to be able to help a friend to be a UFC champion would be something really really special I’m gonna smash him I’m gonna beat the [ __ ] out of him because I train too hard and I don’t want to let nobody decide this I want to finish him guys that come from where I come from don’t end up in these positions I’m from Omaha Nebraska being out here in Denver the lifestyle everyone’s just moving so fast and when I’m home I’m home and it’s quiet I like it Fridays After sparring uh I jet straight to the airport and then I fly home I spend the weekend with my wife and kids and hang out with them all weekend and then first thing Monday morning I’m awake at four o’clock headed to the airport catch the first flight out of Omaha to Denver I’m here Monday through Friday and then Friday after sparring I do it all over again guys good morning why not train a home I think that I’m a better fighter that I’m growing more I think that being pushed more here in Denver obviously I got to add in my relationship with Mark montoy and I think you know all of that all of that stuff combines for the best me those you guys that have fights coming up we need to get really focused you guys get to do one of the coolest things in on the planet and it’s the toughest sport in the planet I’m convinced of that um and I watch what you guys go through and uh and just appreciate everything you do if you’re the best guy in the room you need to find a new room I need to be pushed and I need to lose every single day in the gym and that just doesn’t happen enough in Omaha so I had to seek that out rock your feet rock your feet rock your feet find motion I had a great relationship with a couple of the guys that have been here at factory X for a long time and I decided that it was time to make that move I wanted to continue to grow and get better go guys let’s go I lose here every single day and that’s what’s most important it does get harder to balance the fight and work and family life I do make the sacrifices and spend a lot of time here in Denver but I also am fortunate enough that I get to spend large chunks of time at home as well so it’s definitely a give and take being away from home I think helps a little bit too is as hard as it is and as miserable as it is most of the time uh when I’m here in Denver I’m just a fighter I’m here every day and I give 100 of myself in this gym every single day it’s a very selfish sport so I need to make sure that I’m doing everything I can to be the best me I can but I also need to do that to be able to provide for my family the best way possible I had no idea what I was going to do before this but I hadn’t even considered what my adult life looked like I just found this fighting thing and wanted to try it and when I did it I liked it so I just kept doing it I didn’t even know that this would be a career I think MMA was the only place that I’ve been accepted for who I am I just never felt like I belonged anywhere and MMA accepts everybody uh Factory exxon3 one two three on the mats everyone is the same I think that that’s what kept me around I just felt like I belonged somewhere that’s it Anthony Lionheart Smith by knockout tonight Here Comes Smith Holy foreign when it’s under the chin Now ustamir does not want to tap but there it is Anthony Lionheart Smith continues his rise to the top he has earned his shot against Jon Jones who would be one of the biggest upsets in UFC history yeah I didn’t have the performance that I wanted to have but I definitely learned that I’m not that far away well Smith’s certainly not intimidated showing you the veteran chops Jon Jones is the greatest of all time he’s the best mixed martial artist that’s ever come through our sport so being in there with him for 25 minutes I know that I want to get back there I know that I would do it different leading into it a second time approach the fight differently and just be a little more free I’m not going to quit on myself I’ve never claimed to be the best fighter in the world but I’ll I’ll definitely be the last one to give up Johnny Walker used to be super wild and unpredictable he’s a fantastic athlete he’s crazy power in both hands heavy kicks I think his wrestling in Jiu Jitsu end when his conditioning fails him everyone’s like oh he’s going to be so wild and crazy and he’s going to jump and span and I will tell you this right now no he won’t he starts being chaotic and crazy they know exactly how that’s going to work because that’s where I thrive I think at the highest level a guy like Johnny Walker is going to have a tough time with a guy like me this is nice or something we have this book called The Adventure challenge for couples I got the Johnny this for his birthday so it just means whenever we have the time to do something we’ll actually do something rather than just watch Netflix so yeah today’s challenge is we go to a thrift store and we have to buy each other an outfit and you have to wear it and then go out and do something in public so I think with the challenges to get each other something better than it is he chose to wear these they’re probably going to be the worst part of his outfit and he like they’re his own um not really there’s not really a lot either I put them in a really nice suit or I have them cross-dressed so I think I’ll have a cross-dressed my legs are going to be outside so I need your charger it’s cold this is how you check if Charles is gonna fit me yeah they should fit are you yeah come on what’s your neck have to do with your ass I don’t know I read it online but if you do this good luck it’s good to break the Habit you know like relax do something like a couple you know and you feel a little bit more human you know she’s a great person she always helped me but you know sometimes I have to separate the time for ourselves to enjoy ourselves as well so this is a great time I mean I’m stuck it doesn’t fit on me there’s never a dull moment he’s kind of infectiously positive like if I’m ever having a bad day or complaining he kind of puts it into perspective that really has nothing to complain about and I need to just be more grateful and optimistic she’s cool I actually I I should I should be worse right because look at two I look as though my dad’s wardrobe vomited on me do you have your boxers on because the wind might blew that scared out yeah okay ready I just think that we both have this common goal as like a family as the two of us and that’s what we’re building towards and everything else is kind of background noise oh we’ll get married here Sligo in Belfast City very nice confirm Brazil my friend to conquer Ireland I’m really ready for this next level because I know what to do to become champion every fight even win or lose you’ll try to learn from that I watch myself and see what can I do better than the last time and then I find a pattern that I can trust I wasn’t ready before now I’m ready now my life’s getting better of course because my wife and John they’re part of my family now and they make me feel comfortable here this is my home this is the place that I can be chanting you can’t teach somebody something if they can’t take it in John is difficult to fish bright like you because the character is unbelievable he’s an absolute athlete but that’s the thing with John John folks has you know does everything he’s asked to do I don’t think there’s anything I beat them but not taking that away with Smith he’s got really good boxing skill from confident we’ve got better boxes here right now represent two continents Ireland and Brazil so a lot of people depend on me today and everybody’s gonna step inside the octagon with me and it’s gonna be a I’m behind me against him I don’t know why everyone calls it the redneck truck I just it’s just big and old and it’s a big loud Diesel and I don’t know all my friends here in Denver call it the redneck truck no it’s like super metro Denver you know everyone’s driving smart cars and Teslas and I drive a big jacked up Ford Excursion when I drive this thing it makes me think of my mom my mom had the same year Expedition when I was a kid and the interior of the Expeditions looked exactly the same as the excursions so every time I drive this thing I think of my mom if it wasn’t for my mom this whole MMA Journey would have never happened I owe her everything when I started I was broke I had no job I had just dropped out of high school and then once I turned 18 I got an apartment every Sunday my mom would come up and buy me groceries and whatever I needed to continue to keep doing this fighting thing you know my mom was a single mom and worked a lot to help me with anything that I would need and you know if I wasn’t able to make enough money to pay my rent she would cover the extra when she didn’t even have it herself and that was kind of our routine for a couple years to every Sunday I would spend with my mom coming up to essentially take care of take care of her son while he’s chasing this thing that he doesn’t even know where it’s going to go this entire thing the fighting the training the travel the analyst stuff the desk worked all the jobs and things that I’ve been able to accomplish because of this would never have happened I Still Believe The Best Is Yet To Come and I still think that there’s a world title in my in my future and I’d always look forward to accrediting her in a retirement speech someday you know and and I’ll still be able to do that it just sucks that she won’t be able to be there going into the on Goliath fight my mom gets sick and you know one day I’m in her apartment and we’re hanging out and a couple days later she’s in a coma and and was for three weeks my mom died beginning in May and the fight was into July so I deal with the the passing of my mom and then I go right into training camp I didn’t do my training camp in Denver I didn’t have Mark months away with me the reason Anthony and I weren’t a unit for the ancolia fight was purely because I loved the kid I just didn’t feel like it was the right time for him to fight timing and fighting is crucial especially when you’re on a three fight win streak momentum’s hub it was just where he was at in his mind space he had a lot of stuff going on Mark Montoya didn’t want me to fight he was trying to protect me and he didn’t want to put me in a terrible position I was in a really bad place after my mom died I wasn’t doing the things that I needed to do in training camp I just know him well and I wanted him to go into that fight fully mentally and physically prepared so I said okay man well if you’re if you and I are on the same page for this timing it’s going to pain me to not be there it was it was one of the hardest things I ever did sitting on the couch watching him walk out and not be present I hate it every minute of it Anthony Smith if you’re going to be a world champion in the cage you’ve got to be world champion in life first because life will parallel the cage and vice versa well after that you know me and Mark just talked through everything and at the end of the day both of us are better in this game when we’re together I give him a lot of credit because he initiated the uh the the response to come back and I told him hey man you know I’m gonna give you my all and we’re doing them good that was it it feels good to be back it was like we never missed the day you know just jump right back in that’s way better I want you to be here but then I can fire having mark means a lot to me you know I didn’t really have a father figure growing up I had to figure a lot of this man stuff out you kind of just on my own in trial and error so you know it’s not just he’s a great head coach he’s a great mentor you know I don’t just call Mark for fight related stuff I call Mark for life decisions and business advice and parenting advice it’s my like therapy session and just whatever’s on my mind I just unload on Mark don’t pour coffee out of your shoulders keep your shoulders Square my ass to Anthony what are we doing with your career are we chasing a belt still are we gonna go have some fun fights and make some money for you and your family he looked me down the eye and he said no [ __ ] this is let’s go let’s go get a title I want to win a world title [ __ ] yeah let’s go do it and so that I mean that’s ultimately what it’s about I know exactly how Johnny feels right now he sees a aging fighter that’s fought for the title and lost and had some injury problems and had some issues staying healthy I get it like he he has every right in the world to be as confident as he is and it’s my job to to show him why that shouldn’t be the case you know he’s doing really well right now and I got to stop that train that he’s got rolling downhill but I’ve seen 10 Johnny Walkers in the past you know I mean and I’ve been him before super athletic crazy explosive guy that gets away with things because of his physical gifts but that that’s that’s only going to take you so far when the Octagon close you want to look at my eyes and you’re gonna see what the [ __ ] I’m doing here who is the Bossy who owned this division who is the king it’s me and he have to learn this he’s only got one way to win but he’s got to finish me he’s got to finish me early and if that doesn’t happen him and his coaches know what the outcome is going to be I want to pressure him I want to break him I think it’s going to be a nasty finish