UFC light heavyweight Corey Anderson addressed rumors that Johnny Walker taunted him backstage before their fight at UFC 244. According to Anderson, Walker didn’t say anything to him despite UFC commentator Dan Hardy claiming the Brazilian was talking smack before the fight, allegedly telling Anderson he would “knock him out.”

Walker was upset with Hardy for saying he was trash-talking Anderson in the tunnels backstage before they fought and made a post on Instagram criticizing Hardy for saying so. Hardy took to social media to respond to Walker, saying that he believed the story was true about Walker talking smack because Walker taunted Anderson during the fight.

But now Corey Anderson himself is coming to the rescue of Walker. Anderson took to social media to defend his rival and say that Walker didn’t say anything to him and that it was actually just a fan who said something. Here’s what Anderson said.

“Johnny didn’t say anything to me in the tunnel. It was a fan behind him on the other side of the curtain screaming that for 5-10. Thank you again for the battle warrior.”

Hardy obviously heard the story wrong and Walker is likely expecting an apology from the UFC commentator for making him look bad when he didn’t say anything that he claimed he did. Hardy probably should have done a better job of fact-checking before taking to the airwaves and telling an apparently false story that hurt Walker’s reputation. The fact Anderson took to Walker’s defense should be enough proof that Walker didn’t say anything negative in the tunnels before the fight, and that the story of him talking smack was incorrect.

Anderson’s win over Walker improved his UFC record to 10-4 including his current four-fight win streak, while Walker is now 3-1 in the UFC after this loss.

Should Dan Hardy give Johnny Walker an apology?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/4/2019.