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Posted at 1:00 PM EST.

9:10 PM EST. Johnny Walker burst onto the scene through Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series and has gone 2-0 since joining the UFC proper. Walker has spent just over two total minutes in the Octagon after disposing of Khalil Rountree via a knockout at UFC Fight Night back in November and he subsequently made quick work of Justin Ledet in 15 devastating seconds just a month ago at Fight Night Brazil. Walker went on to earn high praise and a pair of Performance of the Night bonuses to start his UFC career, but we have to wonder if his star might be rising a little too fast. Walker is a short notice injury replacement for Ovince Saint Preux, who was originally scheduled to take on Misha Cirkunov. The UFC is desperate for notable light heavyweight contenders for Jon Jones, as is evident by his opponent tonight, Anthony Smith, being a relative unknown 6-1 underdog. The promotion obviously has big plans for Walker and with another impressive performance tonight on ESPN, he would be on the fast track for that title opportunity, but the fight game has a funny way of smoothing a shining star and making mincemeat of the best-laid plans. Misha Cirkunov knows this all too well.

Cirkunov doesn't have Walker's size, his personality or his affinity for bow ties, but unlike his fresh-faced foe, the Canadian is battle-tested, having to fight for his career after getting cut from the UFC after back-to-back losses in 2017. However, those defeats came to a pair of light heavyweight championship contenders in Glover Teixeira and Volkan Oezdemir. Before those losses to some of the toughest fighters in his division, Cirkunov won his first four fights in the Octagon finishing three of his opponents with submissions and another with a knockout. Cirkunov was once in the shoes of Walker as an up and coming LHW and its easy to forget that he was a heavy favorite over Oezdemir (-260) and a small +115 pooch to Glover. Now, Chirkunov is taking back a more significant price tonight against a hot prospect that hasn't seen the two-minute mark of the first round. Much has been made about the little time Walker has spent in the cage, but he said he hopes for a three rounder tonight so that he can prove he's got gas in the tank. Cirkunov changed his training regiment and moved over to Xtreme Couture Vegas, which seems to have paid off, as he got back on the winning track in his return to the UFC with a submission win over Patrick Cummins last October. Be careful what you wish for because in the deep waters is where Chirkunov does his best work. Nighty night, Johnny Walker (red).

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