Julius Walker | A New Journey Begins

With a 6-0 pro record that included a November stoppage of UFC vet Bevon Lewis, the 25-year-old Walker was staying busy with a February 22 bout against Mark Currier in the Synergy FC promotion before starting to look at what it was going to take to get into the UFC.

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Then the phone rang with an offer for an all-expenses paid trip to Seattle.

To fight Alonzo Menifield. In the UFC.

“Honestly, I thought that I would probably have the little fight I had coming up and maybe potentially one more, and then probably do the Contender Series in the fall and hopefully that goes well, and then boom, hopefully I'm fighting in the UFC at the end of the year,” said Walker of his 2025 plans before those plans changed. “But for it to happen the way that it did, it's just been a crazy blessing. It's been a super, super pleasant surprise.” 

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Yeah, this is much better.

“So much better,” Walker laughs, seemingly unbothered by the spotlight about to hit him on Saturday when he steps into Climate Pledge Arena for the biggest fight of his career.

“I think it'll really sink in once we get to the arena or maybe when I get to Seattle or shoot, maybe it'll be when I'm walking out, but I definitely want to just do my best to soak the whole moment in. I'll only get to debut in the UFC one time, and I got to make the most of it.”

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That cool under pressure will be necessary against the vastly more experienced Menifield, owner of a 15-5-1 record that includes 14 trips to the Octagon. That’s a lot to give up in terms of experience, but it’s key to point out that when Menifield made his UFC debut in 2019, he was just 7-0 as a pro.

“Anybody that fights and is getting to this level, it's something that you've done for a long time and you do regularly, and I think a lot of the time we build it up a little bit more in our head because we're getting in our underwear and doing it in front of people, and you usually have six to eight weeks to build it up in your head, but, at the end of the day, it's just another fight and whatever happens, it'll happen and life will go on.”

Feeling good 👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/JEHujj5VXU

— Julius Walker (@YourFavJuiceBox) February 20, 2025

He’s right, but that realistic view of things doesn’t usually translate to professional fighting, or any professional sport, for that matter. Especially not at 25 years old. But Walker has always been like this, as evidenced by his view of his pro potential as a Division II basketball player for Drury University.

“Maybe I could have gone to Europe and played a little bit,” he said. “Some of my old teammates were playing a bit in Europe, but I definitely did not have super high-end pro potential. I was a college level player.”

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Yeah, Walker is built different.

“I've seen that top level, especially in basketball,” said Walker, who was also an All-State soccer player in high school. “I was much more of a basketball player. I loved soccer. Honestly, it's probably my favorite sport to watch other than MMA, but I don't know, I've seen that top level. And in basketball, the things you have to be able to do to be a high-level professional basketball player are very difficult.”

Making it to the top level in mixed martial arts is very difficult, too. But here he is, and when he looks at what his ceiling is, the forecast is a lot different than it was in the other sports he excelled in.

“I believe in myself a hundred percent and that's what I'm training for,” he said. “I think that anybody that starts training has to be very real with themselves and what they're pursuing and why they're pursuing the sport. Not everybody is necessarily training to be a world champion, but if that's what you want to do, then you have to train a certain way. You have to look at yourself and take things seriously, and that's something that I really dedicated myself to.”

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After 10 amateur fights, Walker turned pro in 2023, and he was off to the races. Now he’s in the fast lane, foot firmly on the gas.

“I think when you look at the world of pro MMA, you've got people who are doing it for different things,” he said. “If you find those guys that are training to be the best in the world and fight at the highest level, which is what I'm going to be fighting on Saturday night, that's a whole other level compared to some of these regional guys who are more so doing it just for the paycheck. And I definitely think that, at this point, moving into the UFC, I'm starting from zero. I'm 0-0 again, and it feels kind of like my pro debut in a sense. I was climbing a ladder and now I've reached a new floor and I've got to get on a whole new ladder. So I'm focused on making sure that I start that journey on the right path.”