Johnny Walker dismisses Dan Hardy’s claims that he taunted Corey Anderson moments before UFC 244 fight

Johnny Walker lost via first-round knockout to Corey Anderson at UFC 244, but wasn’t happy with a few things analyst Dan Hardy said after the event.

The former UFC welterweight contender said at BT Sports that Walker and Anderson ended up at the same hallway due to the secret service locking the arena down for United States president Donald Trump. And, according to Hardy, “for five or 10 minutes, all the time before the fight, Johnny Walker is going. ‘Corey, I’m gonna knock you out. I’m gonna knock you out.”

Walker shared the BT Sports video on his Instagram page and urged the UFC veteran to “get your facts checked before saying stuff that is not true.”

“I did not taunt Corey Anderson at all in the backstage before the fight and would never do such thing,” Walker wrote. “I know that moments like those, specially before the fight, are for focus and concentration. I really expected that a guy like you, who has been a fighter for many years, would ask me if this is true instead of just talking sh*t about me and painting a picture of me of a person that I am not.”

Walker also asked Anderson and his coach Ricardo Almeida to “confirm to Dan and the whole world how we were quiet and focused while waiting for our battle.”

Anderson obliged, leaving a reply in the comment section.

“Johnny didn’t say anything to me in the tunnel,” Anderson wrote. “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 took on Twitter to give his side of the story, ultimately apologizing “for sharing false information.”