An injury to Ovince Saint Preux has opened the door for Johnny Walker to get a step up in competition at UFC 235 against Misha Cirkunov.
MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz first reported the new addition to UFC 235.
Johnny Walker’s personality and fighting style have made him a fan-favorite early in his career. Now the Brazilian gets to prove he’s worth the attention with a fight against proven contender Misha Cirkunov. Ovince Saint Preux’s injury is reportedly not serious, but enough to keep him off next month’s pay-per-view.
When the injury was announced a few days ago, Walker took to Instagram to announce his desire to fight Cirkunov:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Btr0AdXHSAh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The plea worked, and Walker will carry his eight-fight win streak (seven finishes) to the Octagon against Cirkunov in just his third fight with the promotion. The first two have been painless, knocking out Khalil Rountree and Justin Ledet in just over two minutes combined. His walkout dances and “worm” celebration have made fans fall for him even more.
Misha Cirkunov was once in Walker’s position as the hottest prospect at 205. His first four appearances in the Octagon ended in stoppages, making Cirkunov look like trouble for the division’s elite. However, one punch from Volkan Oezdemir sent his rise crumbling less than a minute. Cirkunov was then knocked out by Glover Teixeira, but finaly got back in the sun column with a submission against Patrick Cummins in October.
UFC 235 takes place on March 2 in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card is headlined by Jon Jones’ title defense against Anthony Smith, and Tyron Woodley defending his belt against Kamaru Usman.
