Russian UFC fighter Magomed Ankalayev in an interview with , he spoke about the situation that occurred in his fight against Johnny Walker during a tournament in Abu Dhabi, when the Brazilian refused to continue the fight after an illegal blow.
Ankalaev and Walker fought on the main card of the UFC 294 tournament in Abu Dhabi. If he wins, Ankalaev could become a contender for the UFC championship belt. The fight was declared a draw after an illegal knee strike to the head of a Russian athlete in the fourth minute of the first round. For Ankalaev, this is already the second fight that the fighter cannot finish in his favor. In December 2022, the Russian fought to a draw with Jan Blachowicz. After the fight was stopped, Ankalaev and Walker were ready to fight in the cage, which led to a security intervention.
—Would you rather fight again now than give this interview?
“Of course, I was just warming up, just getting into the fight, and this shot happened. The opponent has merged. When the judge arrested him, he started jumping around and putting on a show. Merged, there is no other way to describe it.
I thought he would get back up, there was no such thing, he didn’t even blink. The doctor approaches him and asks him: “Where are you?” And, as I found out later, he said, “In the desert” or something like that. And the battle is already over. There’s no other way to call it: he lost the fight.
– What do you want next?
“If they give me a rematch, I would love to do it.” If he agreed. I would like to close this matter and move on.
-Are you very upset?
“Of course, I’m upset, I prepared for a long time, one of the few fights I approached without injury, but then I realized that if a person does not want to fight, then what can do it.
—At one point he almost surprised you with a feint pretending you were hitting the body, then he jumped with his knee. Did you rate this episode?
“Of course he’s an unconventional fighter, but I saw everything, I saw his knee, I saw how he jumped. I know I hit the body, but maybe not hard enough to bend it.
— You didn’t meet at the hotel? Can’t you fight outside the octagon?
– What kind of outside the ring? If the person in the ring doesn’t want to fight. And then any fool understands that he won’t let you fight. Like a tethered dog that barks and, once released, remains motionless. He did the same.
— Your coaches held you back. What did they say?
— A guy grabbed the net through me, I couldn’t move. And he said to me: “Calm down.” If he wanted to fight me, he could fight there. Why jump into it? And if he shows me something illegal, of course I will destroy it. And in the street too.
— You called the speaker into the auditorium. How did you feel at that moment?
– Yes. When I saw that they were stopping, I was very upset. I was better prepared for this fight. We told the managers to do a rematch, but I don’t know if this clown will agree,” Ankalaev said in an interview after the fight.
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Magomed Ankalaev’s MMA statistics: 17 victories, 1 defeat, 1 draw, 1 fight declared invalid.
Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
