Johnny Walker wants Gane v Hokit backup spot: 'If they need someone to step in, I'm here'

A day after becoming the first man to finish Waldo Cortes-Acosta, Walker says he is open to flying to New York for UFC 334 "if [the UFC] pays for my flight".

Johnny Walker has offered to step into the UFC 334 heavyweight title fight between Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit if either man drops out, the day after he stopped Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 124.

"If they need someone to step in, I'm here," Walker told MMA Fighting. "I didn't get hurt too badly, no. My face is just a little swollen because I ate a lot of punches, right? I got hit a lot and it got swollen, but I didn't suffer any injuries."

Walker, who lives in Las Vegas, said he is open to flying to New York for the job "if [the UFC] pays for my flight". Gane defends the heavyweight title against Hokit at Madison Square Garden on 14 November.

Walker and Cortes-Acosta took the UFC Vegas 124 main event on eight days' notice after Sean Brady v Gabriel Bonfim was cancelled, and Walker stopped him with a head kick and punches in the third round (read more). Sergei Pavlovich, Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes had all beaten Cortes-Acosta in the UFC without stopping him.

Speaking about that win, Walker said: "I wasn't 100 percent trained, but I was more or less in shape. It just showed that I'm ready for anything. If someone drops out of the title fight next week or gets injured, they can put me in there too."

If the backup role does not come off, Walker wants to win one more fight and then fight for the belt. "If it's for the title, I'll do something crazy and fight [next week] anyway," he said, "but ideally, I'd fight around February or March. Hokit could be an option, right? If Hokit loses, that would be a wonderful scenario for me, because I could already fight him."

On Hokit, he said: "I think he has good wrestling, but his jiu-jitsu probably isn't that good. And his striking isn't anything crazy either, so I think that would be an excellent fight for me."

Walker has also said his teammate Alexander Volkov has earned the next heavyweight title shot after Gane v Hokit (read more).

READ NEXTJohnny Walker says UFC Vegas 124 knockout was 'street fight sh*t': 'Surprise motherf*cker'Read the next story →

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