Johnny Walker is confident he’ll get back into the win column at UFC Brasilia this Saturday when he battles Nikita Krylov.

Last time out, Walker was getting a big step up in competition where he fought Corey Anderson at UFC 244. Many thought the Brazilian would score another highlight-reel knockout but that was not the case. Instead, it was Anderson who scored a first-round TKO.

Now, four months later, Walker is eager to step back into the Octagon.

“You have no idea how badly I want to fight,” Walker said on a recent episode of BJPENN.com Radio. “I’m really excited. I want to beat somebody. I want to test myself. I don’t want to hurt somebody, but I want to knock somebody out.”

Entering this scrap against Krylov, Johnny Walker expects to return to the win column with a KO win. He knows Krylov is good on the ground but he knows he’s the better fighter. And, should he get his hand raised, the Brazilian says this will prove he is ready for another step up in competition.

“I really like this match. I really think he’s a really good match for me to come back because he’s a pretty good fighter. He has a good stand up game, a good ground game. He has a little bit of wrestling, he has a little bit of cardio” Walker said. “So he’s a complete fighter. So this is going to be a really good test for me. Beating this guy is going to tell me I’m ready for the next level.”

In the end, should Walker get a knockout win, he knows that sets him up nicely in the title picture. He believes he will only need a few more wins and could very well be fighting for the belt by the end of the year.

“I’m going to work for that. I’m going to fight as much as I can and train as hard as I can. If I have the opportunity to fight for the title shot at the end of the year or the beginning of the next year, I want to work for this,” Walker concluded. 

Do you think Johnny Walker will KO Nikita Krylov at UFC Brasilia?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/13/2020.