Johnny Walker did not even wait a day.
“If they need someone to step in, I'm here.”
One night after stopping Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the UFC Vegas 124 main event, the heavyweight told MMA Fighting he is ready to fly to New York and serve as the backup for Saturday's UFC 334 title fight — seven days after his last fight.
"If they need someone to step in, I'm here," Walker said.
UFC 334 takes place Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Ciryl Gane defends the heavyweight title against the undefeated Josh Hokit in the main event, with Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes as the co-main. As of now, the promotion has not named a backup fighter in case either man falls out.
Walker, 34, would be the most willing volunteer in the division. He beat Cortes-Acosta by third-round stoppage on short notice at the Meta APEX on Saturday, becoming the first man to finish the Dominican, and the two shared the $100,000 Fight of the Night award. He says he came out of it barely hurt — a swollen face from the punches he ate, no injuries — and that the win proved he is ready for anything.
"It just showed my potential, right?" Walker said. "I wasn't 100 percent trained, but I was more or less in shape. It just showed that I'm ready for anything. If someone drops out of the title fight next week or gets injured, they can put me in there too."
He is clear about the terms. A title fight next week is the exception, not the plan.
"If it's for the title, I'll do something crazy and fight [next week] anyway," Walker said, "but ideally, I'd fight around February or March."
And he already has a preferred opponent if the backup call never comes. Hokit, he says, would be a wonderful scenario — if Hokit loses to Gane on Saturday, Walker wants him next.
"Hokit could be an option, right? If Hokit loses, that would be a wonderful scenario for me, because I could already fight him."
Walker lives in Las Vegas and said he is open to flying to New York for the job if the UFC pays for his flight. If the call does not come, he plans to spend Christmas with his family and return in the first quarter of 2027.
The offer is on the table either way: a heavyweight who just fought, barely hurt, phone on, ready to save a title fight on seven days' notice.
