Johnny Walker plans on following the lead of Jon Jones and move to heavyweight

UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker says he plans on following the lead of Jon Jones and move up to the heavyweight division.

Walker is one of the biggest light heavyweights in the UFC, standing at 6’6″. At age 28 he is in the prime of his career right now, but as he approaches his 30s the cut to light heavyweight is going to get tougher and tougher. Following back-to-back defeats to Nikita Krylov and Corey Anderson, it makes sense that Walker is re-evaluating his career.

Walker, who is scheduled to fight Ryan Spann in September in an upcoming bout between top prospects at 205lbs, recently spoke to AG Fight and suggested that he is planning a move up to heavyweight. Walker says that he has been following Jones talking about a move to heavyweight and the Brazilian wants to follow him up a weight class in the future.

“The guy kept the belt for a long time, he is one of the best fighters of all time. He defended the title and now he will move up to the heavyweight category. And I think he still has a lot of history to do at heavyweight. It’s complicated when you change categories. Let’s see how it goes. This is also my future. I will definitely be going up for heavy duty in a few years. I will try to stay at light heavyweight as long as I can, I still have a lot to do in this category,” Walker said.

“Certainly when I get older and my metabolism slows down a little, in about three years, it will be very difficult to hit 205lbs. I get to 245lbs, of muscle mass, it is difficult to make 205lbs, it is a lot of weight. In a few years, it will be much harder to beat and I will not want to hurt my body so much. I have a lot of (physical) advantage at 205lbs, but I will also have an advantage in heavyweight. I am big enough and have the strength to fight in that category. This, for sure, will be my future.”

How do you think Johnny Walker would fare at heavyweight?