Staredowns! Irish Johnny Walker Takes Final Look At Ankalaev

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will finally be back in action tomorrow night (Sat., Jan. 13, 2024) to host UFC Vegas 84 live on ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be the promotion’s first event since UFC 296 back on Dec. 16.

Leading the way at UFC Vegas 84 will be a main event rematch between streaking light heavyweight contenders Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker. The two fighters originally met at UFC 294 back in Oct. 2023, but an illegal knee rendered Walker unable to continue. It was ruled a no contest and the promotion opted to immediately re-book the matchup for early 2024.

Ankalaev, who hasn’t lost in his last 11 trips to the Octagon, is the betting favorite to take care of business this weekend and push himself closer to an eventual UFC light heavyweight title shot. Walker, on the other hand, has not lost in his last four Octagon appearances. That is a career high for the Brazilian veteran who now trains out of Ireland.

Despite this being the second time that Ankalaev and Walker are locking horns, the light heavyweight giants were pretty cordial during their final faceoff at Friday’s weigh ins (official results HERE). Check it out below:

The current UFC Vegas 84 lineup looks like the below:

UFC Vegas 84 Main Event On ESPN+:

205 lbs.: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Johnny Walker

UFC Vegas 84 Main Card on ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):

125 lbs.: Matheus Nicolau vs. Manel Kape — CANCELED (details here)
155 lbs.: Gabriel Benitez vs. Jim Miller
135 lbs.: Ricky Simon vs. Mario Bautista
185 lbs.: Phil Hawes vs. Brunno Ferreira
265 lbs.: Andrei Arlovski vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta

UFC Vegas 84 ‘Prelims’ Card on ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Preston Parsons vs. Matthew Semelsberger (not Bassil Hafez)
135 lbs.: Marcus McGhee vs. Gaston Bolanos
135 lbs.: Farid Basharat vs. Taylor Lapilus
145 lbs.: Westin Wilson vs. Jean Silva (not Gabriel Santos)
155 lbs.: Tom Nolan vs. Nikolas Motta
125 lbs.: Felipe Bunes vs. Joshua Van (not Denys Bondar)
135 lbs.: Ketlen Vieira vs. Macy Chiasson — CANCELED (details here)
145 lbs.: Norma Dumont vs. Yana Santos — CANCELED (details here)

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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 84 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 84 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive here. For the updated and finalized “Ankalaev vs. Walker 2” fight card and ESPN+ line up click here.