Johnny Walker and Ion Cutelaba face off on Saturday in a light heavyweight showdown in the main card of UFC 279 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Johnny Walker comes into this fight with an 18-7 record overall but he has lost two fights in a row. Johnny Walker’s last fight came against Jamahal Hill in February of 2022 and it was midway through the first round that he was finished by knockout. Two fights ago against Thiago Santos he lost by unanimous decision. Walker is averaging 3.45 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 2.78 significant strikes per minute. She is averaging 0.23 successful takedowns every 15 minutes and is successful on 100 percent of his takedown attempts. He also stops 62 percent of his takedown attempts. He is also averaging 0.7 submission attempts every 15 minutes.
Ion Cutelaba comes into this fight with a 16-7-1 record overall but he only has one win over his last five fights. Cutelaba’s last fight was against Ryan Spann in May of 2022 and struggled. He had three takedowns, but just over two minutes into the fight he was put into a bad spot and was submitted. Cutelaba is averaging 4.81 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.39 significant strikes per minute. He wants to get the fight to the ground and is averaging 4.75 takedowns every 15 minutes. He is successful on 52 percent of his takedown attempts and stops 79 percent of his opponent's takedown attempts.
This fight is going to be a finish no matter who wins. Both of these fighters are struggling a bit coming into this game, but I really think Johnny Walker can wear down Cutelaba here and it might take until the second half of the fight, but he is going to land the big punch and secure the victory.