Magomed Ankalaev Just Shattered Johnny Walker's Nose With A Vicious Knockout

SHEEEEEEEESH!!!

Back in October, Magomed Ankalaev fought Johnny Walker at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, and in the very first round, Ankalaev landed an illegal knee on a grounded Walker that halted the fight. When a doctor came in to check on Johnny, he asked, "Do you know where you are?" and a dismissive Walker responded, "Yeah, I'm in the fucking desert." That wasn't good enough for this doc, and he waved the fight off instantly. Just about everyone protested the decision at the time, from Walker to Ankalaev to the commentary crew - but once the doctor says it's over, the referee has no choice but to end the fight. So the UFC rebooked it as the first main event of 2024, and they finally got to settle the score tonight. 

Walker came out aggressive to start, getting right in Ankalaev's face and not respecting his power at all - but that quickly proved to be a bad idea when Magomed started landing....and it only took about halfway into Round 2 for him to land the big one. First, it was a perfect right hand off a little separation that put Walker down, and then it was a Yoel Romero/Luke Rockhold-esque follow up shot against the fence to end it.

Walker grabbed his nose right away, and the commentators confirmed pretty instantly that it was broken, which always makes me wince like a little bitch. I can't imagine Magomed Ankalaev breaking my nose.

Ankalaev called for a title shot against Alex Pereira next, and if Jamahal Hill is still on the shelf with an achilles injury, he just may get it! If Jamahal is ready to go, though - I think you have to give that shot to the former champ. I would, at least.

I thought that was a pretty great card tonight, though, and we're about to go live to talk about it on the Spinnin Backfist MMA Show. Tune in!