Johnny Walker has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming fight due to injury.
Walker (18-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who was scheduled to face Jimmy Crute on March 27 at at UFC 260, has suffered a torn pectoral muscle that will require surgery. MMA Junkie confirmed the injury after an initial report from MMA Fighting.
In an Instagram post late Monday night, Crute (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) claimed he already has a replacement opponent that’s a bigger and better name than Walker.
A wise man called @danielkellyjudo once told me “in a sport that’s supposed to be full of tough guys you’d be surprised at how many pussies there are in this sport” very true words. Disappointed that my opponent has ducked me yet again but I can’t say that I am surprised that being said I can’t express how excited and grateful I am that a true fighter has decided to step in and fight me. This is a better fight, better name and bigger challenge but I’m ready for it.
Currently training out of SBG Ireland, Walker bounced back from a two-fight losing streak with a first-round knockout over Ryan Spann last September.
Crute is coming off back-to-back first-round “Performance of the Night” finishes over Michal Oleksiejczuk and Modestas Bukauskas. All four of the Aussie’s UFC wins have come by stoppage.
With the change, the latest UFC 260 lineup now includes:
- Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou – for heavyweight title
- Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega – for featherweight title
- Jimmy Crute vs. TBA
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
- Hannah Goldy vs. Jessica Penne
- Vicente Luque vs. Tyron Woodley
- Thomas Almeida vs. Sean O’Malley
