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The UFC is looking to add a battle between light heavyweight top contenders to their upcoming card at Madison Square Garden in November.
It looks like the UFC’s upcoming UFC 244 PPV card may have just got its second fight. A heavyweight bout between Blagoy Ivanov and Derrick Lewis was reported back on July 31st, and now ESPN reports that top ranked light heavyweights Corey Anderson and Johnny Walker are likely to have spots on the event as well.
The bout has yet to be officially announced by the UFC, but Anderson took to Twitter late last month to call out the Brazilian for a fight in November. Walker was quick to pick up what the man formally known as ‘Beastin’ 25/8’ was putting down. Two top ranked fighters in the same division, actively interested in taking one another on? Seems like an opportunity too good for the UFC to pass up.
Anderson is coming off a strong three fight win streak, having defeated Patrick Cummins, Glover Teixeira, and Ilir Latifi, all by unanimous decision. Those wins have pushed a drive up the rankings, and a strong bounce-back from the pair of knockout losses the Mark Henry trained fighter suffered in 2017.
His likely opponent, Walker, is very much a new hot commodity in the division. Having only made his UFC debut in November of last year, he’s racked up three straight first round KO wins to jump right into the mix at light heavyweight. Sporting a total cage time of just two minutes and 48 seconds, the most damage Walker has suffered in the Octagon was his failed attempt to do the ‘worm’ after knocking out Misha Cirkunov in March. His face-first flop to the mat resulted in a dislocated shoulder, which required surgery to repair.
UFC 244 takes place on November 2nd in New York City, NY. As of yet, no bouts for the card have been finalized.