UFC CEO Dana White shed some light on the bizarre scene that unfolded Saturday night during Johnny Walker’s light heavyweight scrap with Magomed Ankalaev.
In an event full of fouls, the main card clash between Walker and Ankalaev appeared to take the cake. Attempting to complete a takedown against the fence in the opening round, Ankalaev threw an illegal knee that caught a downed Walker on the jaw. Referee Dan Movahedi immediately called for a timeout and brought the cageside physician in to complete a concussion test. During their interaction, the doctor appeared to ask Walker if he knew where he was.
During the broadcast, Walker’s response was inaudible, but whatever Walker said was enough for the physician to suggest the bout be stopped. As soon as Movahedi waved off the contest, Walker lost his cool and attempted to shove the referee in an attempt to get at Ankalaev and restart the fight. Ankalaev was certainly game, but men from both corners kept the two 205’ers apart. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to break up the fracas, forcing Dana White to enter the Octagon and quell the situation.
The bout between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker has been called a no contest after Walker was deemed unable to continue due to an illegal knee from Ankalaev. #UFC294 pic.twitter.com/Mvy6NwaDso
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 21, 2023
Dana White Reveals Why Johnny Walker vs. Magomed Ankalaev Was Called Off
Speaking on the incident during the UFC 294 post-fight press event, White suggested that the bout being called off was due to an inexperienced cageside doctor and a language barrier issue.
“Listen, the guy’s inexperienced. He got up in there – I think there’s a lot of things that probably happened,” White said. “I guess he asked (Walker), ‘Where are you right now?’ And his response was, ‘I’m in the desert.’ He’s not wrong. I think there’s a big language barrier in there between the two of them. And he’s inexperienced. It sucks.
“It’s one of those things that happens sometimes. We’ll make it right, and we’ll fix it.”
White also commented on stepping into the Octagon to bring some order to the chaos.
“That didn’t look like it was going in the right direction,” White added. “That’s all we needed. Yeah … yeah.”
Dana White enters octagon to avoid brawl between Johnny Walker and Magomed Ankalaev 😬 pic.twitter.com/srakg5yUpc
— Best MMA Moments (@XcellentMMA) October 21, 2023
Check out Dana White’s full post-fight press appearance below:
