Johnny Walker continues to impress at heavyweight.
The Brazilian took care of business against Waldo Cortes-Acosta in Saturday's Fight Night main event, walking away with a TKO victory in the third round.
Walker stunned Cortes-Acosta with a kick to the head, then knocked him down with a right-handed strike before ending the match with three more punches on the ground.
Walker made his UFC heavyweight debut just last month, doing so in emphatic fashion with a first-round finish of Mick Parkin that earned him a performance of the night bonus.
And with a win over No. 6-ranked Cortes Acosta, and a division looking for some fresh energy, Walker may have lined up a title shot sooner rather than later.
He entered the night in the 12th spot among heavyweights and is bound to move up after his victory — also improving his UFC record to 10-7-0. Before making the jump, Walker spent his first 16 fights under the banner competing among light heavyweights (205 pounds).
As for Cortes-Acosta, Saturday's defeat from the Meta APEX facility in Las Vegas marked his third consecutive loss. It marks the longest skid of his UFC career, dropping "Salsa Boy" to 10-5-0.
Cortes-Acosta last saw his hand raised in January, with a TKO win over Derrick Lewis, but has since dropped unanimous decisions to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes before losing to Walker.
Action resumes next week, with UFC 334 from the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, where another heavyweight bout will headline. Now-undisputed champ Ciryl Gane will defend his belt against the rising and equally polarizing Josh Hokit. That'll be the final of two titles on the line, as women's bantamweight champ Kayla Harrison will take on former belt-holder Amanda Nunes in her much-anticipated return from retirement.
Main Card Results
Tatiana Suarez defeated Virna Jandiroba by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Elijah Smith defeated Davey Grant by KO at 1:00 of Round 1
Lucas Fernando defeated Billy Elekana by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Nina Milosevic defeated Priscila Cachoeira by TKO at 3:40 of Round 2
Mitch Raposo defeated Marcos Degli by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Prelims Results
Ollie Schmid defeated Keiichiro Nakamura by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Thomas Petersen defeated Gabriel Lorenco by TKO at 4:47 of Round 3
Karine Silva defeated Gabriella Fernandes by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Murtazali Magomedov defeated Jose Delano by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Austin Bashi defeated Carlos Calderon by submission at 1:07 of Round 1
Andre Petroski defeated Mantas Kondratavicius by TKO at 4:39 of Round 2
SeokHyeon Ko defeated Wellington Turman by decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jose Souza defeated Jonny Parsons by KO at 4:16 of Round 1
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