Johnny Walker's heavyweight debut rebooked for UFC 332
Johnny Walker's heavyweight has received a new date and a new opponent after Ante Delija withdrew from their UFC Fight Night 283 matchup.
Johnny Walker is now scheduled to compete at a numbered event, as his heavyweight debut has been moved from UFC Fight Night 283 to UFC 332. Instead of Ante Delija, the Brazilian knockout artist will now take on English prospect Mick Parkin on the main card.
Johnny Walker returns this October
Originally, Ante Delija was tasked with welcoming Johnny Walker to the heavyweight division. The pair were booked to fight at UFC Fight Night 283, but an undisclosed injury forced him to withdraw from the matchup, and despite the UFC's best attempts at finding a short-notice opponent for Walker, their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. So, the bout was canceled. Now, however, Walker is scheduled to fight on Oct. 3 at UFC 332, where he will face ex-Dana White's Contender Series winner Mick Parkin.
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For Parkin, who is unranked on the media panel rankings and ranked #14 by Meta UFC, it'll be an opportunity to bounce back from his recent loss by scoring a win over a recognizable name in Walker. After an undefeated 10-0 run, the Englishman's heavyweight hot streak came to a deflating end at UFC Fight Night 255, where Marcin Tybura beat him via unanimous decision. Now, he will be hoping to turn his luck around, much like his opponent, Walker, who is on a rough patch and has failed to live up to the hype generated by his first UFC win streak. Walker was a light heavyweight at the time, and was riding the momentum of a 9-fight win streak, with three of those wins coming in the UFC.
Given his 6 feet 6 inches tall frame, as well as his explosiveness, dynamic striking and brutal punching power, many predicted that he would give then light heavyweight champion Jon Jones his toughest fight. The prediction couldn't have been any more untrue, as Walker was TKO'd in round one in his next fight at UFC 244, and by Corey Anderson, of all people. This led to a 1-4 run, from which he managed to rebound with a three-fight win streak, before going 1-3 (1) in his next five fights. With success hard to come by at light heavyweight, he will now try his luck at heavyweight, where other 205-pounders have since moved to in search of greener pastures.
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