Johnny Walker vs. Jamahal Hill promoted to new main event of UFC Fight Night 201

After a few paperwork issues, February 19th’s UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas now has a new headliner.

The light heavyweight bout between Brazil’s Johnny Walker and American Jamahal Hill has been promoted to the main event slot after the lightweight clash between Rafael Dos Anjos and Rafael Fiziev was forced to be removed from the card.

The Dos Anjos-Fiziev bout has not been scrapped, however. The bout needed to be pushed back due to issues with processing Fiziev’s US visa, and the pair will now compete on the next UFC pay-per-view, UFC 272. Their bout will remain a five-rounder, despite no longer being a main event matchup.

Walker is looking to re-establish some form after suffering three defeats in his last four outings.

Losses to Corey Anderson (TKO), Nikita Krylov (unanimous decision), and Thiago Santos (unanimous decision) have taken the wind out of Walker’s sails since late-2019. His only win since then came via a first-round knockout of Ryan Spann in September 2020. His career record stands at 18-6.

Hill, meanwhile, righted the ship last time out after suffering his first career loss.

His defeat to Scotland’s Paul Craig at UFC 263 saw him dislocate his elbow in a TKO loss. But he rebounded in style with a 48-second knockout of Australian contender Jimmy Crute last December to return to winning ways and improve his record to 9-1 (1 no contest).