Story Behind Johnny Walker’s Real Name: Why Did the UFC Light Heavyweight Change His Name?

Light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker, besides the goofiness and wild victory celebrations, caught the world’s attention for more than being an entertaining character in the UFC. He’s almost always all over the internet, and fans have gotten to know him quite well because of that, but there is still one thing that keeps his fans bugging.

If you’re wondering what that is, it is the story behind Walker’s name, which is what we’re going to talk about today as he returns to action at UFC Shanghai against Zhang Mingyang. Johnny Walker, besides being the name of the UFC lightweight fighter, is also one of the most recognized whisky brands in the world – Johnnie Walker. This begs the question of why he would use that name, given that trademark issues could pop up. Well, Walker narrated the full story behind his nickname back in 2019.

Johnny Walker explains the story and meaning behind his name

For starters, Johnny Walker is not the real name of the light heavyweight fighter. His real name is Walker Johnny Barra de Souza. This explains why he’d take up the name Johnny Walker because it’s there in his name, and he spoke about it during an interview with MMA Junkie, claiming that it was his friends’ idea of calling him by that name because his father loved to drink.

“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,” the UFC fighter stated. However, the real reason for his nickname is a whole different story. In actuality, his name is just a mixture of his parents’ names, Joelma and Walter.

“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,” the Brazilian star added. But what about his ethnicity? Well, Walker opened up to that in another interview as well.

More about Johnny Walker’s background and early life

Johnny Walker appears to be a pretty curious individual, and his curiosity led him to take a DNA test known as ’23 and Me’. Many celebrities, especially social media influencers, have tried their hands at this test, and when the light heavyweight star did it, he found out that he has his roots on the continent of Europe. But that wasn’t it. Walker’s DNA also showed that he was a bit of African, indigenous American, and he also had a bit of Asian in him.

Growing up, things didn’t look very good for Johnny Walker, as he grew up in extreme poverty. To make ends meet, he and his family would trade work for shelter. “At times, we had nothing, no money, no security, just each other. We lived in other people’s homes in exchange for cleaning or helping on small farms,” Walker told Sherdog.com. Well, now he’s in a better place, with a reported net worth of around $1-2 million.

Johnny Walker is coming off two losses in his last three fights, as we wait to see if he can get back to his winning ways once more. What are your predictions for the fight, Zhang Mingyang? Even more so, let us know your thoughts on the story behind Walker’s nickname in the comments down below.