Top UFC light-heavyweight Johnny Walker is looking to fight as many as four times in 2022 after a year marred by injury.
The Brazilian, who is ranked No.10 in the world, was forced to sit out for a year between fights before facing Thiago Santos last time out, having suffered a torn pectoral muscle.
And he has said that he plans to be in the cage twice within a month if the UFC will allow it, starting on February 19 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas against Jamahal Hill.
Mirror Fighting has confirmed with the UFC that the pair of knockout artists will square off at a Fight Night event next month, with Walker having recently signed a six-fight deal with the promotion.
"I have so many weapons in my arsenal," Walker declared while speaking to Mirror Fighting at a fundraiser for injured MMA fighter Ian Coughlan. "I'm going to use all of them next time.
"I'm excited for my next fight, but I want to fight many times next year - my last fight I had a surgery before and I was out for a year and I lost time.
"Coming back from an injury, recovering, doing a lot of rehabilitation, it wasn't nice, there were a lot of limitations on my training.
"But now I'm fresh, ready to go and I'm really excited for my next fight."
And he wants to be back quickly after what many are predicting will be a quick fight against Hill, saying he would be willing to fight the following month, if not more frequently.
He has been training at SBG Ireland in Dublin, the home of Conor McGregor, and just went five rounds for the first time in his career, losing a close decision to Santos.
"I want more than three fights," Walker continued. "If I knock him out quickly, I want to fight as much as I can.
"The UFC is coming back to Rio, I think that could be in March, so let's see.
"I got a lot of experience from my last fight, it went five rounds and I wanted to see how I could come through that.
"I hurt my foot in the third round so I slowed down a bit, you never know what can happen fighting is unpredictable and you can hurt yourself doing your own technique.
"I haven't watched him much yet," Walker admitted. "I watched his last fight but that didn't show much.
"You have to be ready for everything, MMA is incredible because you can't really make a game plan because on the day of the fight everything could be different.
"I'm ready for anybody."
Hill most recently put away rising prospect Jimmy Crute with a vicious right hook just seconds into their meeting in December, having had his arm snapped by Paul Craig earlier in the year.
But Walker was unimpressed, saying it was a mistake from Crute that cost him the fight.
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"Jimmy Crute came forward with his head low," Walker continued. "He didn't respect that in this division any punch can knock anybody out if they hit you in the right spot.
"You have to be very careful, chin down, hands up and move around - he wasn't very protective and he got caught and put down."
And his coach John Kavanagh has said that they had been studying Crute for a possible match-up down the line, and were impressed with Hill's finish.
"I thought that clash might be inevitable," Kavanagh explained. "Myself and Dave [Roche, fellow SBG coach], had been watching.
"Jimmy is such a good fighter, such a good skillset and this guy blew him over, which I was really shocked by.
"Even the punch that finished him didn't look like it had much on it but it was accurate and he didn't see it coming, which any boxing coach would tell you are the ones that tend to do damage.
"It's another dangerous striker, he's got a bit more pinpoint accuracy than Thiago and it would be a really nice one for Johnny to come back on.
"The last one, I feel, came down to one punch, let's get back in February, get back amongst the wins and drift towards the title."
Kavanagh and Walker were speaking at an event to help raise funds for MMA fighter Ian Coughlan, who was left paralysed by an horrific training injury while preparing for a bout. You can donate to the cause by clicking here.
