Johnny Walker moves up to heavyweight at UFC 332 against Mick Parkin after years of brutal weight cuts
Johnny Walker is done with light heavyweight. The 34-year-old Brazilian, 22-10, makes his heavyweight debut against England’s Mick Parkin, 10-1, on Saturday, October 3, at UFC 332 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Walker says his weight cut left him seeing black in sparring in the final weeks of his camps. Parkin has not fought since March 2025.
Key takeaways
- Johnny Walker (22-10) faces Mick Parkin (10-1) at heavyweight on October 3 at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, on the early prelims.
- Walker, 6 ft 6 in, is 1-3 in his last 4: a split decision loss to Dominick Reyes in April, a TKO of Zhang Mingyang in 2025 and 2 knockout losses in 2024.
- Parkin, a 2022 Contender Series signee, lost his unbeaten record to Marcin Tybura in March 2025 and turns 31 the day before the fight.
Why Johnny Walker is leaving light heavyweight
A cut that shut him down
Walker told MMA Fighting that 3 weeks out from his light heavyweight fights, he could no longer train normally: everything went dark in the middle of sparring. “It’s not my heart and it’s not my breath,” he said.
A full camp at last
At heavyweight, with no severe cut, he says he can train hard until the final week. He calls it “normal life” instead of a diet that dictated his entire camp.
An earlier booking that fell through
His heavyweight debut was first set against Croatia’s Ante Delija, who got injured. The UFC found no replacement, then rebooked Walker against Parkin at UFC 332.
An up and down recent run
17 wins by knockout
Walker, a 6 ft 6 in striker, has won 17 of his 22 fights by knockout or TKO. In 2023 he beat Paul Craig by TKO and Anthony Smith on the scorecards.
2 knockout losses in 2024
He was then knocked out by Magomed Ankalaev in January 2024, and by Volkan Oezdemir in round 1 in June 2024 in Riyadh.
A rebound, then a close loss
In August 2025 in Shanghai he stopped Zhang Mingyang by TKO in round 2. In April at UFC 327 he lost a split decision to Dominick Reyes.
Now I can train strong until the last week.
Mick Parkin, a true heavyweight facing a newcomer
A Contender Series product
Parkin, who trains at Team Fish Tank in Sunderland, earned his contract on the Contender Series in 2022 with a round 1 submission. He then won 4 straight in the UFC.
18 months out
His last outing came on March 22, 2025: a decision loss to Marcin Tybura, the only defeat of his career. Before that he knocked out Łukasz Brzeski in round 1 at UFC 304, earning a performance bonus.
Follow the fight
Walker’s and Parkin’s records and our weekly heavyweight rating are in the FightHub app, with the result as soon as the fight ends.
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