“Johnny Walker is somebody that I’m very aware of. I know I’m gonna be fighting him sooner or later,” Jon Jones said during the UFC 235 presser, acknowledging the force Walker was at that time. It’s not every day that arguably the greatest of all time praises a rising fighter. And to be fair, Walker did give ‘Bones’ plenty of reasons back then to see him as a real threat. So, where did it all go wrong?

The Brazilian’s run in the Octagon turned into one of the most lackluster in the promotion’s history, with losses at key moments in his career. Fights that could have propelled him straight into title contention took him farthest from it. Is redemption still an option? Yes. The Brazilian has shown time and again that he can surprise you. He’s done it not once, but multiple times in his career. Now, once again, he finds himself in a familiar position. The 31-year-old is set to face a formidable Zhang Mingyang at UFC Shanghai this weekend. But before he steps into yet another high-stakes battle, the question naturally comes up — can Johnny Walker pull off another comeback?

Johnny Walker’s explosive UFC entry and rise as a future star  

We may know the Brazilian from his highlight-reel knockouts in the UFC. But behind those punches is a man who spent his days in Curitiba, Brazil, working as a security guard before picking up the fighting gloves. Once he made up his mind that combat sports would be his path, Walker turned professional in Muay Thai, going undefeated in 24 fights, before eventually making the move into MMA. And just like every other path, making it big in MMA wasn’t exactly a bed of roses.

In an interview with the UFC, Walker opened up about his early struggles when his coach offered him the chance to train in Scotland. “Without money, without (speaking) English, without a house, like homeless, I kept training, kept doing my best. Running on the beach in the cold because Scotland is cold. My coach helped me to survive there,” he recalled. Despite all the hardship, Walker pushed through and captured the EBD light heavyweight title in 2018 with a first-round KO over Cheick Kone — a win that was enough to get him noticed by the UFC. 

And soon, Walker secured a unanimous decision victory over Luis Henrique da Silva at Dana White’s Contender Series, earning himself a UFC contract. But getting that win wasn’t easy. Walker later revealed he had an upset stomach and “threw up a lot after the fight.” Despite the physical setback, he was now in the big leagues, and it didn’t take long for the Brazilian to prove that he was, in fact, a force to be reckoned with inside the 205 division!  

Johnny Walker was set to face the now #4 light heavyweight contender Khalil Rountree Jr. in his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 140. It was a chance to impress, and impress he did. Walker starched Rountree in just 1:57 of the very first round with vicious elbows, earning a knockout victory. Speaking to the media at the UFC Buenos Aires post-fight presser, Walker said, “There were no social media posts about me, no Instagram photos. People were only talking about Rountree. Now I think someone can see me. Invest in me, guys. I’m here. I got here without any support, so imagine if I had it. And there are many more like me, with no opportunity. That’s what’s lacking, people humble enough to look at the future inside of everyone, but nobody does.”

Well, the Brazilian was definitely a little upset about not getting the love he felt he deserved from the fans. But Walker quickly made sure that changed, as he went on to knock out back-to-back opponents — Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov, in his next two fights, racking up three consecutive Performance of the Night bonuses. Just like that, Walker became the next big thing in the light heavyweight division. However, as he was enjoying his newfound stardom, a crushing setback was waiting just around the corner. 

The Steep Decline — How the Brazilian faced the biggest career setback   

After defeating Misha Cirkunov at UFC 235, Walker pulled off one of the most viral “worm” celebrations inside the Octagon. Only this time, it left the entire fandom concerned. Even Joe Rogan couldn’t help but warn him in the post-fight interview, saying, “Don’t do that, sir, again please.” And as it turned out, the UFC color commentator’s concern was spot-on. Walker ended up dislocating his shoulder during the celebration, which kept him sidelined for four months. After undergoing surgery, he finally returned to face another hyped contender in Corey Anderson, who was riding a three-fight win streak that included a victory over the legendary Glover Teixeira. 

Both fighters were set to clash in a high-stakes matchup at UFC 244 to determine who truly deserved to keep their hype train rolling. Even with Anderson riding a similar win streak, 84% of predictions on Tapology favored Walker. However, when fight night arrived, ‘Overtime’ proved them all wrong, stopping the Brazilian juggernaut with a first-round knockout and leaving fans stunned by the outcome.

Disappointed with the outcome, Walker blamed the strategy going into the fight. He stated to MMA fighting, “I know it was my mistake. I hesitated too much. I should have been more aggressive, but I didn’t. I had too many people talking about his takedowns, so I waited for him to shoot, and I didn’t let my game go. It was the wrong strategy.” 

It was definitely the first significant lesson for the hottest light heavyweight contender at the time. But as Walker was regrouping from that monumental loss, another setback came knocking. He was defeated by Nikita Krylov at UFC on ESPN 28 via decision, which pushed him far back in the line for future title contention. Still, Walker managed to pick himself up again with a stellar first-round elbow victory over Ryan Spann at UFC Vegas 11. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough, as more setbacks followed, derailing his hype train completely. 

Walker was set to face former title challenger Thiago Santos, who had gone toe-to-toe with Jon Jones and also held a victory over the former light heavyweight champion Jan Błachowicz, in a headline bout at the Apex. Recognizing what a win would have meant for his career, Walker said in an MMA Hour interview, “I’m going to beat the guy who beat the champion already, so this one means a lot for me,” while also dreaming about facing a top-10 contender like Jiri Prochazka next. But that dream never came true, as Walker dropped a decision loss to Santos, once again falling out of the win column. That was bad enough — but what followed turned out to be even worse.   

The UFC decided to match Walker up against fellow DWCS alum Jamahal Hill, once again in a headlining bout at the Apex in 2022. And oh boy, that fight turned into a nightmare for him. ‘Sweet Dreams’ sent the Brazilian into the shadow realm with a crushing overhand right knockout in the very first round. The finish went viral almost instantly, finding its way into memes that mostly pointed out Walker’s inability to take a punch. 

The severity of the loss was clear, as Walker kept his response unusually short. Posting in Portuguese on Instagram, he wrote: “I’m fine, on to the next one. Thank you all for the support. Love you. This is the sport, one wins and the other one loses, but I never give up.” And true to his words, Walker held on to that never-give-up attitude — and soon, he would find himself getting back into rhythm once again.   

A short-lived comeback that failed to revive the hype    

At this point, Johnny Walker had only won one of his last five fights. A far cry from his promising debut. Naturally, the big question at that time was: where does he go from here? Many fans had already lost faith in him, but the 205er remained calm under pressure. Soon enough, Ion Cutelaba emerged as his next opponent at UFC 279.

In an interview with BJ Penn.com, Walker explained, “A lot of time off, thinking and training. I started my camp for this fight a long time ago, more than three months ago. I was in Thailand sharpening my Muay Thai. It was a long camp and I’ve been working my a– off for this one. I’ve been working a lot on my defense, my boxing defense, wrestling, jiu-jitsu. I can’t wait to fight.”  

It was clear that the Brazilian light heavyweight had been putting in the work for his fight against Cutelaba. And guess what? It actually paid off. Walker secured a first-round rear-naked choke victory, getting himself back in the win column once again. But it didn’t stop there — he followed it up with back-to-back wins over two legendary fighters, Paul Craig and Anthony Smith, reviving his once-derailed hype in style! 

As his fight history so far has implied, the Brazilian was set for another massive setback. And it came in a heated rivalry against Magomed Ankalaev. Both fighters were essentially set for a title elimination bout at UFC 294, which ended rather weirdly. The Dagestani fighter landed an illegal knee at 3:13 of the very first round, temporarily stopping the fight. The referee asked Walker where he was, to which he replied, “somewhere in the desert,” and the bout was ultimately ruled a no-contest.

After this controversial result, the pair once again headlined a Fight Night card at the Apex — which, historically, hasn’t gone well for the Brazilian. This time, Walker was again knocked out by Ankalaev, with a vicious uppercut, settling the score in their grudge match and crushing his dream of fighting for the title once more. He took to Instagram to announce that he was content with the loss, writing, “It is what it is, we fight the best in the world.”

But as Walker closed one chapter of his grudge matches, another one opened. He was set to face Volkan Oezdemir at UFC Saudi Arabia, and this fight carried a personal edge. Oezdemir had defeated his friend Bogdan Guskov back in 2023 (whom he met at his brother’s gym), and the Brazilian was determined to avenge him. Red Corner MMA shared a video on X in which Walker said, “Now it’s time for revenge. I’m gonna avenge my friend Bogdan. Bogdan, that’s for you, my friend. It’s gonna be a surprise. Let’s go.” 

So, Walker had plenty of motivation going into the Octagon. However, this time as well, Oezdemir was able to read his movement and landed a similar uppercut to the one Ankalaev caught him with in their previous fight, handing Walker another knockout loss on a huge stage. Once again, Walker found himself sliding back into a losing streak, and the hype he had built through sheer hard work took a serious hit, which propelled him to make a massive decision.  

Why UFC Shanghai could decide the Brazilian’s light heavyweight future  

Johnny Walker had been training under Conor McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh, since his loss to Corey Anderson. However, after enduring so many setbacks in his career, the Brazilian fighter decided a change was necessary. He eventually moved from SBG Ireland to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, where Erick Nicksick became his new mentor. But as Walker began adapting to this new training regime, arranging his next fight became a nightmare.

Walker was set to face his good friend Bogdan Guskov at UFC 311 back in January, but the fight fell through due to a grueling rib injury. He wanted to fight, but the UFC apparently made the call to cancel it. Explaining the situation, Walker said, “It was on the bone, it was the cartilage. Cartilage takes four to six weeks to heal. I want to focus on my recovery now because I don’t want to start another camp with any limitations. I need to be very careful now and recover, but it’s hard to sit down and recover.”   

Well, as the fight against Guskov couldn’t take place, the UFC tried to match him with Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 316, which also fell through due to injury. The Brazilian once again took to social media to share his disappointment, writing, “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.” But soon, MMA Journalist RealKevinK on X shared the news that Walker was set to clash with Zhang Mingyang at the UFC Shanghai. 

Mingyang is currently ranked #14 in the 205 lbs division and has already caught attention with three back-to-back knockouts and Performance of the Night bonuses, similar to what Walker achieved when he made his debut in 2018. So, aside from their knockout power, the two have quite a few similarities. However, as this is a significant opportunity for both fighters to secure a big victory and take a major step forward, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the pressure falls more on Walker as the veteran making a comeback.  

He’s currently ranked No. 13 in the 205 lbs division, set to face the unranked Mingyang. But if he gets the win, Walker could leapfrog some of the names above him and potentially earn a shot at the loser of Carlos Ulberg vs. Dominick Reyes, who are scheduled to fight on September 28, 2025, at the RAC Arena in Perth. But that’s not all!

The Brazilian sensation might also cross paths with two former champions along the way. Jan Blachowicz currently has no opponent after his loss to Ulberg at UFC London this year, making him a strong option. A rematch with Jamahal Hill could also be in play, as Hill is riding a three-fight losing streak. If Walker manages to stack up some solid wins in these matchups, he could rise from the ashes once again, just like he has before in his career.

But it won’t be easy. The Chinese 205er is a massive power puncher — something Walker has struggled against in the past. With Mingyang having finished all of his opponents so far, the danger becomes even more real. Still, if Walker can lean on his range to stay out of the pocket, while mixing in takedowns when needed, he just might walk away with his hand raised! B,ut the question remains — can he pull it off?