"I come here to smash all of these guys" - Johnny Walker has his sights set on Jiri Prochazka if he is able to defeat Thiago Santos
Johnny Walker wants to keep moving up the rankings, seal a title shot and become the champion of the light heavyweight division as soon as possible.
A two-fight skid, which included losses to Corey Anderson in November 2019 and Nikita Krylov in March 2020, might have halted his progress a bit. However, the 29-year-old made a strong comeback with a first-round knockout win over Ryan Spann in September 2020.
Johnny Walker is now fully focused on attaining gold in the UFC. During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Walker expressed his desire to fight No.2-ranked contender Jiri Prochazka if he defeats Thiago Santos in his upcoming fight this weekend.
"I hope I get one of the top-three guys next, maybe Jiri Prochazka. Because Prochazka is going to be a really good test for me, to see if I'm ready for the top-five guys. If I'm ready, boom! Depending on my performance in that fight I can talk about a title shot. I come here to smash all of these guys and show that I need to be the champion, my friend."
Catch Johnny Walker's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Johnny Walker will take on Thiago Santos in the UFC Vegas 38 main event
Johnny Walker is set to square off against the No.5-ranked light heavyweight, former title challenger and fellow countryman Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC Vegas 38 this weekend.
Santos holds a 21-9 record and is coming off three consecutive losses in the UFC. After losing to former champ Jon Jones in a 2019 title fight, the 37-year-old fell to further defeats against Glover Teixeira in November 2020 and Aleksandar Rakic in March this year.
Santos' last victory inside the octagon came against current light heavyweight titleholder Jan Blachowicz back in February 2019.
As well as the Thiago Santos vs. Johnny Walker headliner, a middleweight encounter between No.14 contender Kevin Holland and unranked Kyle Daukaus will serve as the co-main event at the UFC Apex this weekend.