UFC Fight Night Smith vs. Walker on May 13 Set for Spectrum Center in Charlotte

North Carolina fans… 𝑮𝑬𝑻 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫𝒀🙌

We make our return to the @SpectrumCenter May 13th! #UFCCharlotte pic.twitter.com/fVm5Gf2js9

— UFC (@ufc) March 30, 2023

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be posting up in the Queen City of Charlotte, North Carolina, for the first time since 2018.

The promotion revealed on Thursday that it would be making its return to North Carolina’s most populous city on May 13. The Spectrum Center will play host to UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Walker, which does not currently have a numbered designation as the broadcast plans are not set in stone as to whether it will go down on ESPN airwaves. Anthony Smith (36-17) vs. Johnny Walker (20-7) will serve as its headliner in the light heavyweight division, in this arena’s first UFC card since UFC on Fox 27 in 2018 featuring Ronaldo Souza vs. Derek Brunson 2.

The promotion last traveled to North Carolina in 2020, when it staged UFC Fight Night 166 topped by Curtis Blaydes and Junior dos Santos in Raleigh. This fight card will be the second to take place inside the Spectrum Center, formerly known as the Time Warner Arena, the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Prior to “Jacare”-Brunson 2, the organization took to Charlotte back in 2010, in the smaller Bojangles Coliseum for UFC Fight Night 21. Of note, two of the first five UFC events were held in Charlotte, as UFC 3 and 5 went down in the colloquially coined “QC.”

In Smith’s lone 2022 appearance, he encountered Magomed Ankalaev and was punched out in the second round. Before then, Smith had chained together three stoppage victories over Devin Clark, Jimmy Crute and Ryan Spann to keep himself in top contention at 205 pounds. As a pro, “Lionheart” posts an impressive finish rate of at least 94%, with one of his early outings in 2004 without a discernable method of victory.

Not to be outdone by his prospective opponent, Brazil’s Walker counters with a stellar stoppage rate of 95%. Walker has won his last two, with a submission in late 2022 over Ion Cutelaba and a speedy knockout of Paul Craig in January. Before this win streak, Walker had fallen on hard time, with only one contentious victory in the middle of four losses. The high-flying Walker initially announced himself to the promotion with three spectacular first-round finishes of Khalil Rountree, Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov, and all six of his UFC victories have come in Round 1.