5 most exciting Johnny Walker fights in the UFC

#2. Johnny Walker vs. Misha Cirkunov – UFC 235

After taking out Misha Cirkunov, Johnny Walker somehow injured himself celebrating his win

After dispatching his first two opponents with ease, the UFC decided to match Johnny Walker with an even trickier foe for his third outing.

While Misha Cirkunov hadn’t quite lived up to the hype he garnered in his early day with the promotion, he was still a very dangerous fighter with grappling chops to potentially test Walker like never before.

Incredibly, though, the only issues that Walker had in this fight turned out to be of his own making. Once again, the Brazilian dispatched his opponent violently in the first round. Like his earlier two fights, he did it with a wild, low-percentage strike.

In this instance, before Cirkunov even had a chance to get out of first gear, Walker leveled him with a devastating flying knee from nowhere that sent him down. The Latvian-Canadian attempted to cover up, but seconds later, the fight was over after a flurry of ground-and-pound.

Bizarrely, though, Walker would not come away from this bout unscathed. He decided to celebrate in style by attempting to face-plant directly into the ‘worm’ dance, only to dislocate his shoulder in the process.

Walker did spend some time on the shelf following this injury, but the bizarre nature of it only turned him into an even bigger star in the eyes of the fans. Had Dana White decided to push him directly into a title bout at this stage, people would’ve lapped it up.

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#1. Johnny Walker vs. Ryan Spann – UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley

Johnny Walker's most exciting UFC bout saw him come from behind to stop Ryan Spann

Following two straight losses, the bloom was somewhat off Johnny Walker’s rose by the time that he squared off with fellow prospect Ryan Spann in late 2020. It didn’t take long, however, for his hype train to quickly get rolling again.

Spann, for his part, came into this fight full of confidence. ‘Superman’ had reeled off four straight wins in the octagon and a fifth over Walker would’ve elevated him directly into title contention. With Walker looking a little vulnerable after his two losses, he seemed determined to take his chance.

Sure enough, after a back-and-forth opening that saw both men land strikes, Spann quickly looked to take the Brazilian down. Walker defended from the clinch, but when the two men separated, ‘Superman’ leveled him with a left hand that seemed to knock him out.

Walker somehow snapped back into consciousness, only for Spann to pounce and land heavy blows before taking full mount. Again, though, Walker did enough to survive and then avoided a triangle choke attempt to escape to his feet.

The Brazilian still looked wobbly as he exchanged with Spann again and found himself down for a second time, this time after eating a right hand. When ‘Superman’ followed with an attempted takedown, though, Walker went for broke and hammered the side of his head with a series of brutal elbows that left him unconscious.

The fight lasted a little under three minutes, but was filled with absolutely wild action. For the first time, Walker had fought through some adversity to claim a victory.

Somehow it didn’t earn him a performance bonus, but over a year down the line, the bout still stands out as one of the best to take place in the UFC’s Apex and remains Walker’s most exciting in the octagon.