Johnny Walker’s Knockout Nearly Takes Out Referee at UFC Vegas 124

WHO:

Sportskeeda - Johnny Walker, a Brazilian fighter, faced Waldo Cortes-Acosta in the UFC Vegas 124 heavyweight main event.

MMA Fighting - Cortes-Acosta was ranked No. 8 among heavyweights in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings. He had won eight of his nine appearances before losing to Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov.

MMA Fighting - Walker had moved up from light heavyweight and was coming off a knockout of Mick Parkin at UFC 332.

Yahoo Sports - The bout was arranged after Sean Brady withdrew from a scheduled main event against Gabriel Bonfim because of an injury.

Yahoo Sports - Walker said, “F* everybody who says I have no chin,” and described his finishing attack as, “This is not technique. This is surprise motherf*er.”

WHAT:

Bloody Elbow - Viewers’ reactions to Walker’s knockout were divided: some praised his ability to absorb punches, while others called the fight “goofy” and “farcical.”

Bloody Elbow - Popular YouTuber MMA Guru wrote, “Heavyweight Johnny Walker is a new mythical fighter. I never thought I’d see Walker eat clean powerful shots and not get chinned. Looney tunes ahh fight, wild finish!”

MMA Fighting - Walker said after the victory, “Thank you. Without a heavy guy like this who could take a punch, it wouldn’t be a good fight. F*ck everybody who said I had no chin. Who don’t have a chin now? This was just to prove to everyone.”

MMA Fighting - Walker opened with leg kicks; Cortes-Acosta later backed him against the cage and briefly dropped him with a barrage of punches. In Round 2, Walker countered combinations with a spinning back elbow, while Cortes-Acosta landed an overhand right and finished the round on top after a scramble.

MMA Fighting - In Round 3, Walker wobbled Cortes-Acosta with a head kick and an unorthodox back fist before finishing with a combination of punches.

MMA Fighting - Walker’s knockout came after Cortes-Acosta hurt him multiple times on the feet and used grappling late in Round 2; Walker then stunned Cortes-Acosta with a sudden shot, charged across the octagon, and floored him with a punch.

MMA Fighting - Referee Jason Herzog tried to stop the action, but Walker landed a couple of additional punches.

Yahoo Sports - Walker knocked out Cortes-Acosta with a hard right in the third round, earning his second consecutive heavyweight win. The result was recorded as a TKO by strikes at 2:27 of Round 3.

Sportskeeda - Walker’s third-round finish was forceful enough to nearly wipe out referee Jason Herzog.

Yahoo Sports - Walker’s win followed his victory over Mick Parkin in his heavyweight debut; before moving up, he had only one win in his last five light-heavyweight fights.

Yahoo Sports - Other main-card results: Tatiana Suarez defeated Virna Jandiroba by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28); Elijah Smith defeated Davey Grant by first-round knockout at 1:00; Lucas Fernando defeated Billy Elekana by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards); Nina Milosevic defeated Priscila Cachoeira by second-round TKO at 3:40; Mitch Raposo defeated Marcos Degli by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards).

Yahoo Sports - Preliminary results: Ollie Schmid defeated Keiichiro Nakamura by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards); Thomas Petersen defeated Gabriel Lorenco by third-round TKO at 4:47; Karina Silva defeated Gabriella Fernandes by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards); Murtazali Magomedov defeated Jose Delano by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards); Austin Bashi submitted Carlos Calderson by rear-naked choke at 1:01 of Round 1; Andre Petroski defeated Mantas Kondratavičius by second-round TKO at 4:39; Seokhyeon Ko defeated Wellington Turman by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards); Jose Souza defeated Jonny Parsons by first-round TKO at 4:16.

WHERE:

MMA Fighting - The event took place at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.

WHY:

Yahoo Sports - Cortes-Acosta needed a win to end a two-fight losing streak and revive his title-shot prospects; Walker sought to show his heavyweight-debut win was not a fluke.

HOW:

Bloody Elbow - The fight was scheduled on short notice, giving Walker 35 days between bouts; he was asked to compete over five rounds at heavyweight with minimal preparation time.

Bloody Elbow - Walker rose after being dropped and absorbed several heavy punches from Cortes-Acosta, whom the article described as weighing nearly 30 pounds more.

MMA Fighting - Cortes-Acosta’s opening-round attack included a late exchange in which both fighters traded punches until the round-ending horn.

MMA Fighting - The fight was Walker’s fifth UFC main event.

Yahoo Sports - Walker spent much of the fight maintaining distance, landing leg kicks, and seeking angles for his unconventional striking. Cortes-Acosta rushed forward and targeted Walker’s head when openings appeared; he appeared to land heavier blows and controlled more of the grappling in the first two rounds. Cortes-Acosta was ahead on two of three scorecards entering Round 3.

Sportskeeda - A separate Sportskeeda article said Walker explained that the knockout combination was not something he had practiced on the training mat.

Johnny Walker knocked out Waldo Cortes-Acosta in UFC Vegas 124’s heavyweight main event. Cortes-Acosta hurt Walker repeatedly, but Walker rallied with a head kick and punches. The victory marked Walker’s second straight heavyweight win, drawing divided reactions from viewers.