Johnny Walker believes he lost to Corey Anderson at UFC 244 because of his old coach.

Walker was entering the fight riding high on a nine-fight winning streak including being 3-0 in the UFC with three first-round knockouts. Against Anderson, the fight did not go his way as he was knocked out in the first round.

Yet, for Walker, although he lost, he says it was because of his old coach who he since has parted ways with. He believes he stressed him out too much which resulted in him not being able to perform.

“I don’t accept this loss because I can beat him. I know that. But I had a little problem during the fight, fight week as well, before the fight some stress with my team,” Johnny Walker said to The Schmo recently. “So I learned a lot and it’s not going to happen again. I don’t train with my old coach anymore because the problem is with him.

“During fight week he stressed me out twice and before the fight, he almost hurt my shoulder because he don’t know how to hold the pad properly. We don’t match too well on fight week,” he continued. “For a long time, I start having these, you know, because we live together, about respect as well. Somethings are not getting met. So now I have no coach and I’m trying to go to Tristar and look for a new coach and new experience and new guys. And I’m ready to restart again.”

Now, he is off to TriStar to work with Firas Zahabi and look to get back into the win column against Nikita Krylov at UFC Brasilia. There, he says he will be a much better fighter and train everything with Zahabi by his side.

“I’m gonna work in everything,” Walker said. “Wrestling, jiu-jitsu, strike, box, everything that I can work. I always learn and improve myself every day. So I’ll be better and I’ll be back. Soon. The 14th of March. Brazil. My time to get the bonus of the night again.”

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/13/2020.