High Stakes in Clash of Personalities in Rebooked Ankalaev vs. Walker 2

By
Gabriel Gonzalez
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Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker, UFC Vegas 84
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 12: (L-R) Opponents Magomed Ankalaev of Russia and Johnny Walker of Brazil face off during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in at UFC APEX on January 12, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

With things heating up in the light heavyweight division, Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker will clash with high stakes at UFC Vegas 84.

As will be said many times this year, things can move quickly in mixed martial arts.  Roughly thirteen months ago, Magomed Ankalaev was stealing momentum in a five round bout against former champion Jan Blachowicz for the vacant title.  But it was not to be as the judges ultimately ruled the fight a draw and Ankalaev was left furious over the results of the widely different scorecards.  The fact that most pundits gave him the nod was an afterthought as UFC President Dana White had already put the wheels in motion to have Jamahal Hill and Glover Teixeira compete for the vacant title before Ankalaev had even left the cage.

In October, it felt as if the tumultuous division would finally return to baseline levels as Ankalaev took on fellow contender Johnny Walker in a bout expected to line up the next challenger for the champion set to be crowned weeks later.  Instead, things took a turn as Ankalaev landed an illegal strike.  Despite Walker clearly being ready to continue, a miscommunication with the referee led to the high stakes bout being called off.  After having strung together an impressive nine fight win-streak over the likes of veterans and former title challengers like Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith, Ankalaev has now had bouts go to a draw and No Contest respectively.  This puts more onus on him to deliver on Saturday.  With new upstarts such as Khalil Rountree and Aleksandr Rakic making their way up the ladder, Ankalaev needs to deliver to maintain his place in the slowly crowding title picture.

For Johnny Walker, the headliner against Ankalaev is a massive opportunity.  The electrifying contender had fallen on tough times in 2022 as he was in the midst of a 1-4 skid that was far from the success that had made him a breakout star in the first place.  Changes were made, with a now highly publicized move to Ireland to work with Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh being chief among them.  On the cusp of being pushed out of the conversation, Walker responded in amazing fashion with back-to-back first round finishes of Ion Cutelaba and Paul Craig to inject momentum back into his title aspirations.

A 2023 victory over Anthony Smith would further push him up the rankings and he was granted an opportunity to break back into the title picture for the first time since 2019 with the booking against Ankalaev.  Going into the rebooked match with the Russian contender, Walker is undoubtedly the crowd favorite after being the biggest loser of the situation back in Abu Dhabi and subsequently stoking the flames of a small rivalry with his foe in the media afterward.

The preferred plan for the light-heavyweight title is to have former title holder Jamahal Hill face current champion Alex Pereira in the first half of 2024.  That said, Hill’s ankle injury and the UFC schedule could determine whether or not that bout remains intact.  Should the UFC necessitate Pereira before Hill is ready, the winner between Walker and Ankalaev could conceivably get the next title shot.  Should the winner have to wait or need one more bout, then surging contender Khalil Rountree makes the most sense.

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