“I was okay to fight” - Johnny Walker sheds light on UFC 294 doctor controversy, says English is not to blame
Johnny Walker recently weighed in on the controversy surrounding his fight against Magomed Ankalaev being ruled a no-contest at UFC 294.
During his appearance on The MMA Hour, the Brazilian shed light on his conversation with the doctor, who came to the conclusion that he was unable to continue after being hit with an illegal knee. He mentioned what questions the doctor was asking him and noted that he answered them as best he could.
He said:
"He [the doctor] asked me, 'Do you want to continue to fight?', I said, 'Yes.' He said where I was. I don't wanna say the wrong [answer]...I thought to say Abu Dhabi...Like, he was doing the test. And I want to say the right answer, so I thought to say Abu Dhabi...then I said, 'Fine, I'm in the fu***ng Desert, bro.'"
Johnny Walker then brought up that he believes the miscommunication was a result of the language barrier between him and the doctor. He mentioned that he was able to continue and that the doctor should have handled the situation better because it was a hectic moment:
"The doctor wasn't in his native language, so he had very heavy accent as well...I tried to explain him what I was doing the right answer to him...My mind is on going like thousand miles an hour and receive a shot [illegal knee] in my face. And I was okay to fight."
It remains to be seen how Dana White will resolve the situation as he noted during his post-event press conference that he will make things right as it pertains to the bout between Johnny Walker and Magomed Ankalaev.
How many consective wins did Johnny Walker have prior to UFC 294?
Johnny Walker was on a great run of form prior to his no-contest with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 294.
The Brazilian had been on an impressive three-fight winning streak that included wins over the likes of Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig and former UFC title challenger Anthony Smith.
His bout against Ankalaev was a meaningful fight as the winner could have very well earned the next title shot against the winner of next month's vacant light heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and former champion Jiri Prochazka.
