Overview
- This week Walker publicly named Derrick Lewis and unbeaten Josh Hokit as the opponents he wants next and said he would be ready to fight in October or November.
- Walker has won five straight fights by first-round submission, including a rare calf-slicer finish of Thomas Petersen at UFC Abu Dhabi that fighters and outlets have called his best UFC win to date.
- Walker told MMA Junkie he prefers Lewis because of Lewis’s name recognition and his status as the UFC’s all-time knockout leader with 16 KOs.
- Derrick Lewis is 41 and has suffered back-to-back knockout losses this year, including a defeat to Josh Hokit, and no Walker-Lewis or Walker-Hokit bout has been officially booked by the UFC.
- If the UFC agrees to the matchup, a win over Lewis could accelerate Walker’s climb in the heavyweight ranks while posing a high-risk, high-reward test for Lewis late in his career.