UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker recently talked about the recent news of Jon Jones announcing his move to the Heavyweight division and the subsequent vacating the Light Heavyweight title.
Standing at 6’6 Walker is one of the biggest light heavyweights in the UFC, and at the young age of 28 he is in the prime of his career right now. Unfortunately as he gets older, the weight cut down to 205 lbs is going to get tougher each fight he takes. Following back to back losses to Corey Anderson and Nikita Krylov respectively, now might be the time to make the jump for the supremely talented Walker.
Walker, who is scheduled to fight Ryan Spann next month on a Fight Night card in Vegas, recently spoke to AG Fight and suggested that he is planning a move up to heavyweight. Walker says that he has been following Jones talking about a move to heavyweight and the Brazilian wants to follow him up a weight class in the future.
“The guy kept the belt for a long time, he is one of the best fighters of all time. He defended the title and now he will move up to the heavyweight category. And I think he still has a lot of history to do at heavyweight. It’s complicated when you change categories. Let’s see how it goes. This is also my future. I will definitely be going up for heavy duty in a few years. I will try to stay at light heavyweight as long as I can, I still have a lot to do in this category,” Walker said.
“Certainly when I get older and my metabolism slows down a little, in about three years, it will be very difficult to hit 205lbs. I get to 245lbs, of muscle mass, it is difficult to make 205lbs, it is a lot of weight. In a few years, it will be much harder to beat and I will not want to hurt my body so much. I have a lot of (physical) advantage at 205lbs, but I will also have an advantage in heavyweight. I am big enough and have the strength to fight in that category. This, for sure, will be my future.”
Certainly some intriguing words from a very dangerous and young prospect. How do you think Johnny Walker will perform in the Heavyweight division? When will he make this jump?