This was announced by the Brazilian’s trainer, John Kavanagh, on the regular edition of the MMA Hour program.
The first fight between the top welterweights, which took place Oct. 21 at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, was ruled a no contest because Walker, who missed a banned knee strike from the Russian in the fourth minute of the first round, was unable to convince a doctor that he was fit to continue the fight.
Last December, Magomed Ankalaev made an unsuccessful attempt to win the vacant UFC flyweight championship belt by drawing a title fight against Poland’s Jan Blachowicz. Prior to that, the 31-year-old Russian fighter had reeled off nine straight wins in the UFC, confidently closing out a disappointing loss to Paul Craig in his debut fight under the organization’s banner.
The 31-year-old Johnnie Walker is riding a three-fight win streak, finishing Ion Kucelabu by choke, knocking out Paul Craig, and winning a unanimous decision over Anthony Smith.
Magomed Ankalaev and Johnnie Walker are currently ranked second and seventh in the UFC’s welterweight division rankings, respectively.