With just one week until the event, the UFC 311 PPV card lineup got a shakeup. Light heavyweight veteran Johnny Walker walked out of his bout after sustaining a bad injury. He was to meet Bogdan Guskov on the January 18 card at Intuit Dome in Inglewood. The matchup was to serve as the featured prelim contest on the UFC’s first numbered event of the year – UFC 311.
The UFC 205-pound funnyman has faced one too many comical knockout losses and was eyeing a move up to heavyweight. However, Johnny Walker (21-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) billed it’s tough for him to press on with the injury even at this light heavyweight matchup. The Team SBG Ireland star apologized on social media, announcing his withdrawal on Saturday.
Hi, guys. Bad news, …I’ve been pulled out by a bad injury, …So I’m not going to be competing, and I’m devastated. A lot of hard work I put in over a few months of training a lot. We want to come back and do a show, but not this time. I wish Bogdan good luck. Hopefully he can find an opponent
Johnny Walker via IG (@johnnywalker)
The PPV card in the brand-new Intuit Dome faced its own sets of perils and location hazards. However, the spot venue for the card remains. Walker was looking to snap his back-to-back losing skid on this. Meanwhile, Bogdan Guskov has been slow to rise since losing his action-packed debut to Volkan Oezdemir in 2023.
🚨| Johnny Walker has announced that he is OUT of his #UFC311 fight with Bogdan Guskov on January 18th due to a “bad injury”. pic.twitter.com/YpOvjG1uVW
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) January 11, 2025
The fighter from Uzbekistan quickly rebounded with two knockouts and two performance bonuses in 2024. Guskov was scouting a higher-ranked opponent in lieu of Walker. But the options were slim. The stiff Anthony Smith test is on hold, with him battling trauma. Azamat Murzakanov is suspended, and many others remain unavailable. It is unknown if there’d be a replacement in seven days.
What’s next for Johnny Walker?
Walker was subject to a series of Oezdemir punches that ended the fight at 2:28 of Round 1 in their UFC on ABC 6 scrap. The final follow-up left Walker stiff as a board. In the aftermath, the Brazilian light heavyweight said he had health issues and a tough weight cut.
It could be slim pickings for UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker (Source: X)The knockout defeat was Walker’s second in as many appearances. He admits it has made him think about what changes he can make to avoid a third in a row. An attempt at UFC 311 was to be his pocket of salvation before trying to bulk-up to heavyweight limits. Walker has already trained a lot with his brother, for the latter’s heavyweight debut. So, he understands the frame and cut needed.
The Brazilian striker has fallen to 4-6 with one no-contest in his past 11 fights dating back to November 2019. Walker has suffered seven of his nine career defeats by stoppage. All four of his UFC stoppage losses have been by knockout. Before that though, he has had some good ones in the box, with wins over “Lionheart” Smith and Paul Craig.
For now, he is without a next booking and unlikely to find Bogdan Guskov in a rebooking. It’s the UFC’s first major event of 2025. So, matchmakers might move Guskov to another card in the coming weeks if no one steps up to replace Walker.
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