Johnny Walker

Johnny Walker to fight Misha Cirkunov at UFC 235

Johnny Walker has his next fight set.

Walker, who has taken the UFC by storm is 2-0 with two very quick knockouts. First, he knocked out Khalil Rountree Jr. and then knocked out Justin Ledet at UFC Fortaleza. The win got him ranked at 15 in the light heavyweight division and at UFC 235 he will have his toughest fight to date when he takes on Misha Cirkunov.

News of this new matchup was first reported by MMA Fighting.

Walker was campaigning for this fight after Ovince Saint Preux had to pull out due to an injury.

“Hey [Misha Cirkunov]” Walker wrote. “I heard you need a new opponent for UFC 235, I might know someone…  [UFC, Dana White] I am waiting for the call.”

Walker, as mentioned is 2-0 inside the Octagon with a win over Rountree Jr. at UFC Fight Night 140, and a 15 TKO win over Ledet at UFC Fortaleza. The rising star is currently 16-3 and riding an eight-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, Cirkunov got back in the win column in Moncton in October where he defeated Patrick Cummings by arm triangle. Before that, the Canadian suffered two losses in a row to Volkan Oezdemir and Glover Teixeira. He also holds notable wins over Nikita Krylov and Ion Cutelaba.

The submission specialist will be a tough challenge for Walker given we haven’t seen his ground game in the UFC yet. But, if Walker can get past Cirkunov he has a chance to be a few wins away from a title shot.

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Here is how UFC 235 shapes up now.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith – for light heavyweight title
  • Champ Tyron Woodley vs. Kamaru Usman – for welterweight title
  • Ben Askren vs. Robbie Lawler
  • Tecia Torres vs. Weili Zhang
  • Cody Garbrandt vs. Pedro Munhoz

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Jeremy Stephens
  • Misha Cirkunov vs. Johnny Walker
  • Alejandro Perez vs. Cody Stamann
  • Mickey Gall vs. Diego Sanchez

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:15 p.m. ET)

  • Charles Byrd vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
  • Macy Chiasson vs. Gina Mazany
  • Frankie Saenz vs. Marlon Vera
  • Hannah Cifers vs. Polyana Viana
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Cole Shelton
Cole Shelton covers MMA for BJPenn.com, MMANews, and MyMMANews.com while also being the lead MMA odds writer for Sports Betting Dime