A light heavyweight fight between Johnny Walker and Ryan Spann is currently in the works for UFC 253 on Sept. 19 with a location for the card still to be determined.
Multiple sources confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Monday following an intial report from ESPN.
After starting his UFC career with four straight wins, Walker has faced adversity with a pair of consecutive losses to Corey Anderson and Nikita Krylov. The Brazilian fighter looks to return to the win column while facing another top prospect in the 205-pound division.
Spann comes into the fight with an 18-5 record overall and a perfect UFC resume after earning his contract by way of Dana White’s Contender Series.
With a 4-0 record inside the octagon, Spann has picked up impressive wins over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Devin Clark and Sam Alvey. He now attempts to move to 5-0 in the octagon when he faces off with Walker in September.
UFC 253’s expected main event is a middleweight title fight between champ Israel Adesanya and Brazilian slugger Paulo Costa.