Magomed Ankalaev vs Johnny Walker ends in no contest following illegal knee at UFC 294

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us today, October 21, 2023, for UFC 294, going live from the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Headlining the event is a championship rematch at 155 lbs between UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (24-1) and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (26-2).

Co-headlining the event is a middleweight affair between former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-3) and fellow top contender Khamzat Chimaev (12-0).

Our feature fight of the evening came in the light-heavyweight division between no. 2 ranked former title challenger Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1, 1 NC) and no. 7 ranked Johnny Walker (21-7, 1 NC).

Ankalaev hadn’t fought since his title fight with former champion Jan Blachowicz last December, a fight that resulted in a draw, and a fight many believed he won. Walker on the other hand had a bit of a resurgence as of late, coming into the bout on a three-fight win streak.

Continue reading to see how our UFC 294 feature fight went down:

Official Result: Magomed Ankalaev vs Johnny Walker results in a no contest (illegal knee) at 3:13 of round one

Walker opens up the bout with a couple hard leg kicks, Ankalaev returning with leg kicks of his own. Ankalaev counters one of them from Walker with a good push kick, and also counters another with a solid left hand shortly following. Ankalaev then lands a hard left hand to the body, seemingly hurting Walker.

Once Ankalaev charges in Walker throws a flying knee, missing the attempt and ending up taken down along the cage. Ankalaev traps Walker’s left wrist well and unloads with a barrage of punches, also searching for the rear naked choke.

Ankalaev then lands an illegal knee that stops the fight in its tracks. Though Walker didn’t seem too bothered by the knee that caught him directly in his face, the doctor forces the referee to stop the action following, declaring the bout a no contest, our second of the night; the first one also ended controversially because of the same doctor.

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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