UFC matchmakers are looking to beef up the UFC 283 card, adding Johnny Walker vs. Paul Craig.
Ag Fight reports that Walker vs. Craig will be held inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event is scheduled to take place on Jan. 21.
Walker is coming off a first-round submission finish over Ion Cuțelaba last month. As for Craig, he recently had his four-fight winning streak snapped by Volkan Oezdemir, who defeated him via unanimous decision.
Whether he wins or loses his scheduled bout with Craig, Walker will hope to avoid being locked out of the arena this time. Walker took footage of himself walking around the Las Vegas strip in nothing but his fight gear after his UFC 279 fight, claiming the UFC wouldn’t even allow him to take a post-fight shower. He detailed the situation to Helen Yee.
“After the fight it’s the usual thing, you go off to medical and then you go off to various media groups to do your interviews,” he said. “And usually you get to go back to your locker room, quick shower, get changed, and then back to the hotel. Or if you’re lucky you might even get tickets to go back outside.”
“It was a little bit odd how it all went down,” Kavanagh continued. “So the last media interview, it’s in a tent outside the T-Mobile. And we come out of the tent, and go back into the building, grab our gear, and get changed. The blue shirt UFC staff – who were incredibly professional and polite, nothing against them – they had to stop us at the door and tell us ‘You’re not allowed back in.’”