Johnny Walker released a statement following his devastating second-round knockout loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Vegas 84.
Walker came out fast and furious in the opening round, looking to put Ankalaev on his back foot and throw off the Russian contender with his signature wild style of striking. However, things took a drastic turn in the second with Ankalaev controlling the cage as Walker’s attacks were few and far between.
Stuck in an endless loop of circling to his left, Walker moved in quickly, but it was Ankalaev who landed a brutal looping right hand that sent the Brazilian crashing to the canvas. Ankalaev followed it up with a nose-shattering shot that forced the referee to step in with just over two minutes left in the round.
Johnny Walker Congratulates His Opponent
Taking to social media, Walker addressed his brutal defeat by congratulating his opponent and promising to come back even better.
“Win or learn, right, coach!” the video caption read. “Fighting the best in the world, one little mistake cost the win. You don’t make me so you can’t break me, you didn’t build me so you can’t kill me! Let’s keep climbing.
“I’m good, just a little scratch on my nose,” Walker said in the video, with his wife by his side. “I going to watch my fight, I wanna see what mistakes I did a little later on and I’m gonna put on my YouTube channel here the recalculations to see what I did wrong and talk more about the fight.
“It is what it is, we fight the best in the world,” Walker continued. “I’m one of the best in the world, they’re gonna face the best in the world. Could be me, could be him. So he had a better night than me, congratulations to him, Magomed Ankalaev. I hope he get the belt now. And I’m gonna keep grinding, keep grinding and going for wars, going upward. Thanks everyone for the sport and I’m gonna take a few days off then come back to the gym, come back better” (h/t MMA Mania).
Johnny Walker issues first statement following knock out loss to Magomed Ankalaev at #UFCVegas84
‘Congratulations to Magomed Ankalaev.’ pic.twitter.com/OkRCEB0meu
— Parry Punch (@ParryPunchNews) January 15, 2024
The loss to Ankalaev snapped Walker’s three-fight win streak which included highlight-reel-worthy victories over Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig, and Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith. Despite the loss, Walker’s performance was still strong enough to bump him up one spot to No. 7 on the light heavyweight rankings. Ankalaev remains at No. 3, sitting firmly behind former champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka.