Julius Walker came out of the gate hard back at UFC Vegas 113 in February. In a battle with wily veteran Dustin Jacoby, he clearly took the first rounds with a mixture of grappling and hands. However, the second round was a different story, and Walker was stopped for the first time in his career by the former Glory kickboxer.
While missing out on a big win is never ideal, he feels that he walked away with something even more important in that fight – a lesson.
“I think that the biggest takeaway for me from that fight was for one, there’s no substitute for time under tension and experience,” Walker explained. “DJ has been doing this at the highest level for a very, very, very long time. At the end of the day, he was more prepared than I was and he was the better man on that night. I think that I learned a lot from the fight.”
The specific of that veteran presence had to do with composure more than anything. Both in and out of the cage, Jacoby gave him plenty to grow from.
“I think that he almost showed me firsthand what veteran presence in the octagon is. Because one thing that he said in some of his interviews and whenever I spoke to him after the fight was that he was very exhausted after the fight, right? You wouldn’t have known it being in there with him. If I had known that he was real exhausted, I probably would have gone one, two, double leg,” he said with a laugh. “But DJ had that veteran presence and I think I learned a lot from being in there with him.”
As a result, he’s begun taking those pieces and adding them to his own game.
“I think the biggest thing is not showing your cards,” Walker said. “If you are feeling fatigued, if you get hit with something that hurts – being able to not be shaken by the ups and the downs of not even just the fight itself, but a fight week of the preparation of everything that goes into this and being able to show up and be professional and lock in and do what you need to do to claim victory.”
Now, halfway across the world in Baku, Azerbaijan, Walker is ready to show those things in the cage. He faces Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev in a battle between light heavyweight prospects.
“You’re going to see Julius ‘Juicebox’ Walker getting his hand raised within the distance, baby,” he said. “I’m very excited to get in there and show what I’ve learned and show how much I’ve improved. My mindset is the best that it’s ever been, I’m honored for this opportunity and I’m ready to make the most of it.”
That fight with Yakhyaev takes place on the UFC Baku main card. The fight card begins at 9am EST this Saturday on Paramount+.
