Walt Harris endured a terrible 2019 but his management team say that he will soon be looking to resume his hot streak in the UFC heavyweight division.
Harris last fought in July where he defeated submission specialist Aleksei Oleinik via knockout just 12 seconds into their fight — a win which made him undefeated in his last four contests — but his what had been a tremendously successful year to that point was turned on its head when his stepdaughter, Aniah Blanchard, 19, was reported missing in late October.
Harris, along with several prominent members of the mixed martial arts community, appealed for information as to Blanchard’s whereabouts but the search met the worst possible conclusion when Blanchard’s body was discovered around a month later. An arrest was subsequently made and the suspect, Ibraheem Yazeed, is understood to be facing the death penalty if convicted.
The incident understandably led to Harris withdrawing from a scheduled fight with Alistair Overeem in December, but according to his management Harris is looking to resume his career before long.
“Walt’s back in the gym. He’s training very hard at his gym, SBG Alabama. We’re looking at an April return right now,” his manager, Jason House of Iridium Sports Agency, said to MMA Junkie. “He’s excited to get back into the Octagon.”
There is, of course, no opponent being discussed as of yet but if Harris does intend to return in the month of April there would be two cards to choose from: UFC Fight Night 172 (which doesn’t yet have a location) and the hotly-anticipated UFC 249 card to be headlined by Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
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