LAS VEGAS – Magomed Ankalaev still thinks he was well on his way to defeating Johnny Walker in October, and intends to pick up where he left off in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 234 rematch. Ankalaev (18-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) was performing well against Walker (21-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in their initial encounter at UFC 294 before he threw and landed an illegal knee that led to a no contest . The pair will run it back to settle the score, but this time in a five-round main event at the UFC Apex, which streams on ESPN+. To this day, Ankalaev, 31, thinks Walker, 31, could’ve continued fighting the first time they met. The doctor ultimately deemed the Brazilian was unable to continue and the bout was waved off, and Ankalaev thinks Walker was happy to have it play out that way. “After that shot, he was actually the one trying to tell me that was an illegal blow – so he was conscious enough and in his mind enough to say, ‘Hey dude, that was illegal,’” Ankalaev told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 234 media day.
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