"I'm going to smash him" - Johnny Walker announces fight against Ion Cutelaba on September 10

Johnny Walker will be looking to break a two-fight losing streak when he returns to action on September 10 against the Moldovian 'Hulk', Ion Cutelaba.

Walker took to his YouTube channel to announce the fight, which will take place at UFC 279 alongside the recently announced Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev fight.

"I'm going to fight September 10, Las Vegas Nevada, Ion Cutelaba. Yeah, I'm going to smash him. That's it."

Watch Johnny Walker discuss his next fight below:

Walker arrived in the UFC with a lot of hype via the 2018 season of Dana White's Contender Series. He won his first three fights in impressive fashion with a variety of violent knockouts. His hook kick to spinning backfist KO of Justin Ledet was especially memorable, and it only took him 15 seconds to do it.

Unfortunately, a shoulder injury suffered doing 'the worm' in the cage put his winning ways to an end. Since then, he's gone 1-4 in his last five. His last loss to Jamahal Hill in February 2022 was a vicious KO just three minutes into the first round.

Ion Cutelaba has had an uneven UFC career, trading wins and losses since being signed in 2016. He's now 5-6 with the organization and coming off a first-round submission loss to Ryan Spann. 'Superman' also happens to be the last opponent Walker has beaten. The Brazilian earned a first-round KO over him in September 2020.

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When Johnny Walker injured himself doing 'the worm' dance after a win

Johnny Walker is known for generating a lot of highlight reel footage during his fights, which was the case when he fought Misha Cirkunov in March 2019. He knocked out Cirkunov with a flying knee just 36 seconds into their bout, and then followed that up with 'the worm' dance.

This wasn't the first time Walker had done 'the worm' into his victory celebration. However, this time Walker was a bit too wild on his first wiggle, hitting the canvas so hard that he dislocated his shoulder.

Walker ended up having to undergo surgery to fix his shoulder and says he went through a bout of depression due to the injury. Some fans have argued that Walker has never looked the same since then, although his wild win over Ryan Spann was certainly a classic Walker performance.

His attempts to point-fight against Nikita Krylov and Thiago Santos indicate a fighter who is at a crossroads in his identity. Most of those watching UFC 279 will be hoping to see the Johnny Walker before his injury. With the way Cutelaba fights, there's definitely a high chance of that.