Johnny Walker has unexpectedly been forced to withdraw from his bout with Bogdan Guskov next weekend at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 from Inglewood, Calif., as the UFC light heavyweight veteran took to social media early Saturday to reveal the bad news to his fans.
While there remains some uncertainty if UFC 311 will still be held in California due to the ongoing wildfires fighters are still preparing for battle. If UFC 311 needs to be moved it appears that Las Vegas is a likely alternative, but that remains up in the air.
What fight fans now know for certain is that next weekend’s UFC 311 card will no longer feature Walker. The perennial contender suffered a “bad injury” in the final leg of his camp and has been forced to remove himself from his matchup with Guskov. It was lining up to be a very important bout for Walker after coming up short in his last three trips to the Octagon.
“Hi, guys. Bad news,” said Walker in a recent video posted to Instagram (shown above). “I’ve been pulled out by a bad injury next week at UFC 311 so I’m not going to be competing.
“I’m devastated. A lot of hard work I put in. A few months, train a lot. I really want to come back and do the show for you, but not this time.”
As of now, Guskov remains without an opponent for next weekend’s UFC 311 pay-per-view (PPV) card. However, it’s UFC’s first major event of 2025 so matchmakers shouldn’t have too much trouble finding a short-notice replacement looking to start the new year off with an upset.
For more UFC 311 fight card news click HERE.