Magomed Ankalaev had the upperhand against Johnny Walker in the opening round of their fight at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, but an illegal knee to his downed opponent led to a controversial doctor’s stoppage.
Round One:
Low kick for Walker. He pumps out the jab. Head kick attempt from Ankalaev is blocked in time. Low kick again from Walker. He lands it again and now Ankalaev connects with his own.
Push kick from Walker. Ankalaev lands a punch as Walker misses on a spinning backfist. Push kick for Ankalaev.
Body punch from Ankalaev. Leg kick for Walker. Big knee from Ankalaev has Walker hurt. Ankalaev looking to capitalize and Walker attempts to counter with a flying knee, but gets taken down. Walker with his back against the cage though which is stopping Ankalaev from taking it.
Walker trying to stand back up, but before he can do so Ankalaev delivers an illegal knee strike flush to the chin that forces the referee to intervene and call a time out.
Ankalaev being given time to recover here after that hefty blow, though he does seem like he’s not badly hurt from that.
It looks like Walker is willing to continue, but shockingly the cage-side doctor suddenly tells the ref that he’s not fit to continue.
Walker is bemused and gets increasingly frustrated, shoving at officials and attempting to restart the fight with Ankalaev. It’s threatening to get out of hand and it’s only when Dana White steps in and tells him to calm down that he finally does.
The fight is then officially declared a no-contest due to an unintentional foul at 3.13mins of the opening round.
Afterwards there’s talk that the doctor was asking Walker basic questions that he seemed unable to answer, which may have been why he made the controversial call to have the fight stopped.
