It's absolute madness on the main card at UFC 294. During the first round of the Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker fight Ankalaev landed a knee on Walker who was grounded.
They stopped the fight and called the doctor into the Octagon (the same doctor who was flamed for telling Victor Henry he wasn't actually kicked in the groin).
The doctor deemed the fight unable to continue despite Walker saying he was ready and willing to fight. According to the broadcast, Walker wasn't able to say what country he was in, but we have to remember that Walker's first language is Portuguese and his five-minute time limit was not close to being over.
After it was called off both Walker and Ankalaev tried to take matters into their own hands and just tried to start fighting again. Coaches and security ran into the Octagon to separate them but it wasn't until Dana White entered the cage that they finally calmed down.
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
Here's how Twitter reacted to the confusion.
Soooo does Johnny Walker get fined $10k too? He put his hands on the ref worst than I did. Lol #UFC294
— Corey 'Overtime' Anderson (@CoreyA_MMA) October 21, 2023
OMG
— Luke Thomas🏋️♀️ (@lthomasnews) October 21, 2023
They waved it and now Walker is pushing the referee!!!!
Let’s keep these doctors out of the cage until the 5 minute allowance is up. #UFC294
— Mike Harrington (@TheMHarrington) October 21, 2023
It’s insane that if the call is to stop the fight this was a NC. It was a very intentional illegal knee. What a whole shit show this is.
— Rodrigo Del Campo González (@RodDelCampo) October 21, 2023
All jokes aside I may get the question wrong even if I wasn't in a fist fight. But I'm definitely failing what country is abu Dhabi in in the middle of a fight
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) October 21, 2023
The doctor who called off the Walker fight was the same doctor who was criticized for underplaying the injury to Henry on the prelims. Henry ate a brutal groin strike and was unable to continue his fight. But when the doctor entered the cage he tried to convice Henry that the strike didn't even land.
We hope this is the last time we see this doctor at a UFC event.