Rising UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker, who injured himself while celebrating a first-round TKO win against Misha Cirkunov on Saturday in Las Vegas, will need four weeks to rehab a minor shoulder injury, his manager tells ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
Walker (17-3) found out the results of his MRI on Monday afternoon.
The Brazilian landed a vicious flying knee just 36 seconds into the bout and followed up with hard strikes before the referee stepped in to end it early. He then proceeded to do “the worm” in the Octagon and hurt his shoulder in the process.
His manager, Lucas Lutkus, told Helwani his fighter wants to return in May or June and is interested in fighting former light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson next.
Walker has won nine consecutive fights, the last three against UFC competition. All were first-round finishes.
UFC President Dana White spoke to reporters about his excitement for the 26-year-old fighter.
“This kid’s special, and I wish he would stop doing that s— after,” White said following UFC 235. “There’s no upside to celebrating like that after, doing the kick worm or whatever the hell that thing is that he was he was trying to do. It’s unnecessary. You don’t need to do it. What you did was impressive enough.”