Johnny Walker has picked his next heavyweight opponent, and it’s a name that will make some fans squint. The Brazilian told talkSPORT he has asked the UFC for Marcin Tybura, ideally in December at UFC 335 in Las Vegas, days after he flattened Mick Parkin in his first fight at heavyweight.
“I’ve asked for Marcin Tybura for my next fight. If he’s ready for December, I would like to fight him,” Walker said.
The Parkin fight on Oct. 3 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City was short. Walker landed a knee and the referee waved it off at 3:35 of the opening round. It was one of 11 fights on the 14-bout UFC 332 card that ended inside the distance, a night that went heavy on finishes and light on drama in the scorecards.
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Why Tybura
On paper, Tybura is a strange callout for a guy who just knocked somebody cold. The 40-year-old Pole has dropped three in a row. Ante Delija knocked him out in September 2025, and he followed that with unanimous decision losses to Tyrell Fortune and Aleksandar Rakic. His most recent win came in March 2025, against Parkin. So Walker is asking for the guy who beat the guy he just finished.
Walker’s reasoning has nothing to do with a hot streak. He wants reps at the new weight before he goes looking for the top of the division, and he pointed to Tybura’s decade in the UFC as the kind of experience he needs to see across the cage.
“I want more experience before I take higher-ranked levels of fights, because I believe I have to,” Walker said. “I don’t want to step ahead of myself.”
The debut already moved the needle. The UFC Meta Rankings slotted Walker in at No. 12 at heavyweight after the Parkin knockout, while he still sits at No. 14 at light heavyweight. Undefeated Anthony Wint also entered the heavyweight list at No. 15 off the same card. MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee... scratch that, it was Mike Meshew on MMA Fighting’s post-event panel who flirted with naming Walker the biggest winner of the night, writing that “the man might have just rejuvenated his career” before he went another direction.
Sal’s take
I’ll give Walker this: a fighter publicly asking for a measured step up instead of a top-five name is rarer than a parlay of 12 favorites that actually cashes. The logic holds. Tybura is durable enough to test whether Walker can handle a heavyweight who leans on him for 15 minutes, which Parkin never got the chance to do. The catch is the matchup reads like a gift to the bookmakers’ favorite column. Tybura’s last three results include a knockout loss and two decisions where he couldn’t find a way back, and he’s 40. If this gets made, Walker will be the short price, and I’m not paying a premium to watch a guy on his second fight in a new division beat a veteran on a skid. I’d rather wait and see how Walker looks when somebody hits him back. UFC 335 in Las Vegas is the target, and Tybura hasn’t answered yet.
