I’m in the desert, replied the doctor after an illegal kick by Ankalaev. Then the match was over and Walker wanted to continue. What did the UFC boss say?

It was supposed to be one of the main draws of the evening, but it turned out to be a disappointment. It was stopped prematurely and both Johnny Walker and Magomed Ankalaev have to accept that the fight ended in a no decision after a bizarre decision. What did Dana White say?

While both were focused on their duel, they knew that a potential win could mean a title fight. Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker both predicted the outcome of Jiri Prochazka’s fight with Alex Pereira. They hoped that one of them would be the challenger to the new champion.

They clashed at the UFC 294 gala, which was full of controversy. One of those was in the Walker vs. Ankalaev fight. The Russian fighter was the favorite, however, many people could also imagine the Brazilian fighter winning.

Ankalaev should have had the upper hand technically and tactically. His opponent was expected to unleash chaos in an attempt to win the fight, which is more or less what he tried to do, albeit in a slightly different way than anyone would have imagined.

Walker toyed with the Russian, pretending his punches landed hard to lure him into a trap. It almost worked once when Ankalaev hit a low blow, and when he saw the Brazilian grabbing for it, he immediately took off, looking to generate pressure. That was the aforementioned trap, however, as Walker reacted quickly and tried to hit a jumped knee.

Instead, Ankalaev pushed him to the canvas, where he dominated. At least until he committed an illegal knee to the head, which was to be followed by a five-minute break, a medical check and then a decision on whether the fight could continue.

But there was no waiting for five minutes. On the contrary. The doctor stopped the fight almost immediately after being allowed into the cage, and both fighters disagreed with the decision. The bout was ruled a no contest. For example, Conor McGregor responded by saying that Walker should have won on the disqualification of his opponent.

Walker paid the price for the language barrier?

It was unclear for a long time what exactly happened and why the fight was ended in such a way. However, it wasn’t the first controversial ending by a doctor at the tournament, which is why fans, pundits and fighters alike have been very critical of what happened.

So why was the fight stopped? Johnny Walker either paid the price for the language barrier or for being a jokester. This was revealed by UFC boss Dana White, according to whom the Brazilian was asked by a doctor where he was.

“His answer was that he was in the desert. He wasn’t wrong, but I think there may have been a big language barrier between the two, add to that the inexperience of the doctor. It sucks,” MMA Fighting quotes him as saying.

The duel took place in Abu Dhabi, so Walker really wasn’t completely wrong in his answer. However, afterwards it looked like there would be a conflict despite the fight being stopped. The situation in the cage was calmed down by White and his security.

Source: UFC, MMA Fighting