With their first fight ending in a No Contest, Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker had a chance to run things back at UFC Vegas 84 on Saturday.
The Fight Night card kicked off the year for the UFC, and was a chance to correct a wrong. At UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, things between Ankalaev and Walker came to a premature end when Ankalaev landed an illegal knee on his opponent. Walker appeared ready to continue, only for a miscommunication with officials to see the fight ruled a No Contest. An enraged Walker looked ready to keep fighting on the spot, and needless to say, no one was satisfied. Not the fans, and certainly no the fighters.
As a result, a full five rounds were afforded to Ankalaev vs. Walker 2 at UFC Vegas 84. The card also saw the return to Jim Miller, paired up with Gabriel Benitez just three months or so out from UFC 300 — a card nearly ever fight fan wanted to see Miller on, after he’d competed at UFC 100 and UFC 200.
Miller vs. Benitez was promoted to the UFC Vegas 84 co-main event late, thanks to Manel Kape missing weight for his fight with Matheus Nicolau. Coming in 3.5lbs heavyweight for the flyweight affair (itself a rematch), Kape had managed to get his chance to avenge a loss cancelled.
Following UFC Vegas 84, tune in for the post-fight press conference, available in the embed above.
