Magomed Ankalaev resumes his dominance, KO’s Johnny Walker in UFC Vegas 84 main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us for the first time in a month tonight, January 13, 2024, for UFC Vegas 84, going down live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event was a light-heavyweight rematch between no. 3 ranked Magomed Ankalaev (19-1-1) and no. 7 ranked Johnny Walker (21-8). Their first fight went down just a couple short months ago in October, resulting in a no contest midway through round one due to an illegal knee thrown and landed by Ankalaev.
Going into that fight Ankalaev was coming off his draw to former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in their vacant title fight, a fight he went into on a nine-fight win streak. Walker on the other hand went in on a bit of a career resurgence himself, having won his last three-straight upon entering his first fight with the Russian contender.
Tonight, they battled in UFC Vegas 84’s main event to get a clearer result as to who the better man is.
Continue reading to see how our main event of the evening went down:
Official Result: Magomed Ankalaev def. Johnny Walker via KO (punches) at 2:42 of round two
The two trade leg kicks through the early goings of the bout.
Ankalaev tries for an early takedown but is unsuccessful with his attempt. He controlled the center through the first five minutes, through Walker seemingly landed the heavier kicks. The first round was quite difficult to score with each man having success.
Ankalaev times a nasty right hand midway through round two that drops Walker on the spot, following up with another single right hand that forces the referee to stop the action.
Click here to view finish.
Magomed Ankalaev made his UFC debut with a record of 9-0 in March of 2018 against Paul Craig; he won every second of that fight up until Craig threw up a triangle in the last ten seconds and got the submission finish at 4:59 of the third and final round.
The Russian contender hasn’t lost since then, going on a nine-fight win streak that showcased victories over the likes of Marcin Prachnio (KO), Klidson Abreu (UD), Dalcha Lungiambula (KO), Ion Cutelaba twice as their first encounter resulted in an early stoppage (TKO, KO), no. 6 ranked former FNG light-heavyweight champion Nikita Krylov (UD), as well as a trio of former title challengers in no. 9 ranked Volkan Oezdemir (UD), Thiago Santos (UD), and no. 10 ranked Anthony Smith (TKO).
Ankalaev then battled to a draw with former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz, a fight most believed he won, before having a no contest with Walker in October, also a fight of which he was winning before landing the illegal knee. He’s now 19-1-1 (1 NC) as a professional, and he could easily be a 21-1 or 22-0 world champion.
Now Ankalaev picks up his first win in a year and a half with this knockout of Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 84.
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