UFC light heavyweight bruiser Johnny Walker will look to slug his way back into the win column when he collides with once-beaten 205-pound prospect Jamahal Hill as part of the UFC “Fight Night” event on Feb. 19, scheduled for the APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
MMA Fighting confirmed the date following an initial report from MMA Ideas.
Walker (18-6) was being positioned as the next big thing at 205 pounds, even catching the eye of then-champion Jon Jones. Unfortunately the Brazilian failed to live up to the hype, losing three of his last four and dropping all the way to No. 10 in the division rankings.
That’s still one spot above Hill (9-1, 1 NC). The 30 year-old “Sweet Dreams” suffered his first loss inside the Octagon when Paul Craig stopped him at UFC 263 back in June. Hill would promptly rebound with a knockout win of his own, finishing Jimmy Crute just last month.
The UFC “Fight Night” event on Feb. 19 does not have an official headliner at the time of this writing; however, several compelling matchups have already been booked for the “Sin City” lineup, including Kyle Daukaus vs. Julian Marquez and Ilir Latifi vs. Alexandr Romanov.
Expect more fight card announcements in the coming weeks, if not days.