Johnny Walker says in hindsight doctor made right call in first fight with Magomed Ankalaev (Video)

Johnny Walker is stepping into the Octagon with Magomed Ankalaev again on Saturday, Jan. 13, just months removed from a doctor stoppage in their first match-up.

In October, Ankalaev landed an illegal knee to Walker, who was considered a grounded fighter in the moment. After a very brief and confusing fight with the cage side physician, the fight was stopped and declared a no contest.

At the time, Walker protested it, even going so far as trying to just keep fighting Ankalaev. He had to be calmed down by several officials, including UFC president Dana White.

While many fans are still angry at the doctor over the decision, Walker isn't.

"The doctor has to take the smart decision for you, because we're never gonna take the smart decision," Walker told FanSided MMA at the UFC Vegas 84 media day. "We always want to fight. I want to fight, it doesn't matter if we're bleeding, cut," Walker said. "I am glad today because when I look back, one week after the fight, I feel my neck locked up, my collarbone a little bit inflamed. I received a big impact on my jaw. It was like a car crash.

He backed up those thoughts in more interviews since, as well.

“I have nothing to complain about [regarding] the doctor because he made the right choice, it really was a hard knee,” Walker said on MMA Fighting’sTrocação Franca podcast. “but we’re too tough for our own good and I didn’t feel it at the time. I was sore for a week because of that knee. He made the right choice because I would have been in disadvantage, so he has to make the call for me. We’ll never admit it and say, ‘I got hit by that knee and I don’t want to fight anymore.’ No, we’ll always want to fight, so someone else has to make the smart call for us. I thought I was OK, but I certainly wasn’t. We don’t know. That’s why we have a doctor there to make the call for us.”