Johnny Walker ‘told the doctor he was fighting in the desert’ during medical check for concussion after taking illegal knee – leading to chaos as Brazilian fumed at UFC 294 bout in Abu Dhabi being stopped
- Johnny Walker took an illegal blow to the head from Magomed Ankalaev
- The doctor came in to check on him and very quickly said he could not fight
- Walker fumed and there was confusion over the communication in octagon
Johnny Walker ‘told the doctor he was in the desert’ when asked where he was fighting during a concussion check at UFC 294.
There were chaotic scenes in Abu Dhabi during the light-heavyweight fight between Walker and Magomed Ankalaev.
Walker was hit with an illegal knee to the head. He had five minutes to recover but the doctor came in and very quickly judged him unable to continue.
He appeared lucid on television but it was unclear how the doctor had come to his conclusion.
Some time after the bout – numerous reporters said Walker’s coach John Kavanagh had told them the doctor asked Walker where he was, to which he replied, ‘the desert’.
Dana White had to calm Johnny Walker down after he was told he could not continue
Magomed Ankalaev was also furious at the decision to call off their UFC 294 bout
After the doctor had told the referee the fight could not carry on, Walker was furious. He even pushed the referee and remonstrated with the doctor, with Ankalaev and the Brazilian still trying to get to one another.
The chaos was so frantic that Dana White left his seat to smooth things over in the octagon.
Bruce Buffer eventually announced: ‘Doctor’s advice due to a foul, the fight is declared a no contest’.
Conor McGregor, a fellow member of SBG gym in Ireland was baffled by the decision, given it was a foul that caused the bout to be called off.
He wrote: ‘Johnny Walker fight was a no contest? He got illegally cracked on the jaw with a knee and couldn’t continue. A dq win. How on earth a no contest?’
The same doctor came under fire earlier in the night, telling fighter Victor Henry he was not kicked in the testicles.
‘No, it wasn’t your balls. He didn’t kick your balls,’ the doctor said.
In obvious pain, Henry replied – with his voice cracking – ‘No, no it hit my… it’s all d*** and balls. My d*** feels repulsive.’
Walker remonstrated with the doctor, referee and security in the cage
Fight commentator Jon Anik seemed stunned that the doctor could look a fighter in the face and tell him that he wasn’t kicked in the privates.
‘Oh, come on man,’ Anik said on the broadcast. ‘And now the doctor is going to tell him it didn’t hit his testicles?! Come ON man!’
Referee Daniel Movahedi disagreed with the doctor’s assessment, calling a foul and ending the bout.
Walker’s bout with Ankalaev was one of the most anticipated on the card and fans could be heard booing in reaction to the decision.
It will be interesting to see if the decision is overturned or the fight rebooked at the earliest opportunity.
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