What Is Johnny Walker’s Ethnicity? Who Are His Parents? All About the UFC Star’s Background

#7-ranked light heavyweight Johnny Walker is one of the most entertaining characters in the UFC. From his name itself, which resembles a famous liquor brand, to his weird, zany sense of humor and goofiness combined with his 6’5″ frame and dynamic, striking first fighting style, these are just some of the things that endear him to the fans.

And one of the most unique and perplexing things about him is his nationality and ethnicity. Coming off a tough knockout loss to Magomed Ankalaev, the 32-year-old is now gearing up to face #9-ranked Volkan Oezdemir, where he would be hoping to bounce back and get back into title contention with a win against the Swiss light heavyweight. And ahead of this bout at Saudi Arabia’s first-ever UFC event, let us examine his nationality and ethnicity.

Johnny Walker reveals his true ethnicity with the help of a DNA test

Johnny Walker was born and raised in Brazil, having grown up in the South American country’s party capital of Rio de Janeiro. However, the former EBD light heavyweight champion currently lives and trains at the SBG Ireland gym under head coach John Kavanagh, where he shares the mat with Conor McGregor. Even though he is Brazilian, he surprisingly represented England on his UFC debut back in 2018.

Which is why there is continuing ambiguity around his nationality and ethnicity. While we have seen that Walker is a Brazilian national, the light heavyweight himself recently spoke about the results of a DNA ancestry test he took earlier this year.

In a video posted on his Twitter account in February, the #7-ranked 205-pounder revealed that he had quite a diverse mix of ancestral roots. The results showed that the UFC star was 72% European (primarily of Iberian genetic heritage at 42.1%, followed by Italian at 25%).

The next most significant ancestral group in his genetics was African, which came out to 22% (with 3.3% Nigerian and 16.1% Angolan and Congolese ancestry). Finally, the Brazilians also had 3.8% indigenous American ancestry, along with minuscule amounts of British and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.

Adding to the confusion around Walker’s background and ethnicity is his name, which does not sound very Brazilian. But there is a good explanation for why the 32-year-old has such a European-sounding name.

Johnny Walker talks about his parents, birthplace, and more

In a 2019 interview with ‘MMA Fighting’, Walker revealed that he was “born in Belford Roxo, in the Baixada Fluminense section of Rio de Janeiro.” The Rio native revealed that his unique name is actually because of his martial arts career.

“My nickname is Johnny Walker. People like to call me that because my name sounds like Johnnie Walker whiskey. They figure my father was a big drinker. In reality, it’s a combination of my parents’ names. My mother’s name is Joelma, and my father’s name is Walter. My given name is Walker Johnny. And when I got into fighting, since I needed a nickname, I ended up being called Johnny Walker,” he said in the same interview.

His real full name is Walker Johnny da Silva Barra de Souza, but he chose to go with Johnny Walker after he started his fight career back in because it was a more memorable and catchy name. This is why, since his MMA debut back in 2013, he has gone by Johnny Walker. And true to his initial assessment, the name is one of the things that has made him one of the more recognizable fighters on the around 600-strong UFC roster.