Johnny Walker Compares Confusing UFC 294 Stoppage to Sterling’s DQ Title Victory

Johnny Walker is extremely disappointed with the sudden stoppage of his UFC 294 clash against Magomed Ankalaev.

A highly anticipated showdown between the two on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s marquee card on Saturday in Abu Dhabi met with an anticlimactic end. The fighters had barely felt each other out before Ankalaev (17-1) kneed a grounded Walker (21-7) right on the chin. Following a conversation with the Brazilian, the cage-side doctor deemed him unable to continue, bringing the fight to a close while a confused Walker stomped around in protest.

Walker shared his side of things during a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour.” According to the 31-year-old, the confusion was mainly due to a language barrier. Walker said:

“He asked me if I wanted to continue fighting. I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Where are you?’ I didn’t want to say the wrong answer because I was excited when he was doing the test and I wanted to say the right answer. I thought to say Abu Dhabi … and then I said, ‘Fine, I’m in the f****** desert, bro. I’m here. I’m good. … I’m in the desert. I’m in the Middle East.’”

“I can speak good English. The doctor wasn’t in his native language and had a heavy accent as well, I understand what he said. I tried to explain and give the right answer to him, but in the middle of the situation, maybe I fight for the title shot and everything, my mind is going a thousand miles an hour. I received the shot in my face and I was OK to fight.”

Walker compared the instance with Aljamain Sterling’s title win over Petr Yan at UFC 259 in 2021. Sterling became the first UFC fighter to be crowned champion via disqualification win after Yan kneed him on the temple while Sterling was grounded. While Walker doesn’t want to win UFC gold in the same fashion, he believes Ankalaev should have been penalized for the illegal shot.

“They didn’t give me time to calm down, to recover,” Walker said. “If I had gotten kicked in the balls, I have five minutes to recover. I’m kneed in the face; I have nothing to recover. An illegal knee in the face? It’s more disappointing because the same thing happened with Aljamain and he became a champ after a knee like that. I don’t want to become champion [like that], but maybe take points off of him and the fight continues, or maybe disqualify him or whatever. It’s an illegal shot. He could put me out with a very illegal shot. I could have damage in my brain.”