Chael Sonnen explains the mistake that got Paul Craig knocked out against Johnny Walker

Chael Sonnen discussed what went wrong for Paul Craig at UFC 283.

Johnny Walker had a breakout moment against Craig on January 21. The 30-year-old fought in front of his hometown crowd on the main card of UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro. Walker made the most of the opportunity and secured a first-round knockout against ‘Bearjew.’

During a video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen had this to say about Craig’s performance against Walker:

“Paul Craig stood in front of him tonight. I’m looking down at my clock, we got 20 seconds that had gone by, neither guy reached out to touch somebody… Sometimes when those guys wanna be playful, when they wanna make it, when they wanna have fun, and this is funny, haha, you gotta go out and you gotta make it dirty.”

Craig has lost his last two fights - against Volkan Oezdemir and Walker. MMA fans and analysts highly regard the 35-year-old, but he needs to get back on track. Meanwhile, Walker put the division on notice with his second consecutive first-round finish.

Watch Chael Sonnen discuss Paul Craig vs. Johnny Walker below:

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Chael Sonnen believes a "playful" Johnny Walker has the skills to be a world champion

The UFC light heavyweight division doesn’t have too many title contenders at the moment. Therefore, Johnny Walker’s exciting finishes and marketability could lead to a world title fight sooner rather than later.

During the same YouTube video, Chael Sonnen had this to say about Walker:

“Walker is as good as anybody in that division. Quite frankly, so is Paul. Paul Craig has the skills to be a world champion. Johnny Walker has the skills to be a world champion, but Johnny Walker needs a very specific kind of fight, and he’s gotta have a very specific attitude going into a fight. Playful. Playful is what Johnny Walker is looking for.”

Walker might be evolving into a world champion after having an up-and-down start to his UFC tenure. The Brazilian earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series, later making his promotional debut in 2018. He won his first three fights - all first-round KO/TKOs. However, he then struggled against the elite light heavyweights, losing four of his next five.

The 30-year-old has changed gyms and won his last two fights. Walker could be on his way to fighting for the UFC light heavyweight championship in the future.