Johnny Walker’s brave decision at UFC Shanghai quickly left him in danger.
Saturday saw the UFC staging fights in China for the first time this year, as the Shanghai Indoor Stadium played host to a number of matchups featuring ranked contenders and promising prospects.
Two five-rounders headlined the card, with Johnny Walker beating Zhang Mingyang in the main event and former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defeating Brian Ortega moments before.
The Brazilian’s win to close out the card marked a major shock. While many had backed the home favorite to continue his streak of first-round finishes, he ultimately succumbed to a TKO himself after being floored by leg kicks in round two.
But the fight was not without opportunities for ‘Mountain Tiger’ to end things early…
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Johnny Walker tried Khamzat Chimaev-esque ‘fake glove touch’ takedown
From Derrick Lewis’ crazy flying knee at UFC 291 to Jorge Masvidal’s record-breaking KO with the same move, we’ve seen some unexpected moments right out of the gate inside the Octagon.
And that was the case in Shanghai, as Walker shot for an immediate double-leg takedown that not many would have had on their bingo cards.
To set it up, Walker seemingly faked a glove touch as Mingyang offered out his hand, looking to take the Chinese KO artist by surprise. The move ultimately backfired, as ‘Mountain Tiger’ ended up in top position and began to rain down ground-and-pound on the veteran contender.
The opening to the fight was reminiscent of how Khamzat Chimaev began his path to victory against Kevin Holland at UFC 279. Chimaev was blasted for a controversial move that saw him fake a glove touch before dragging ‘Big Mouth’ down and ragdolling him en route to a quick submission.
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Fans compare Johnny Walker’s ‘fake glove touch’ to controversial Khamzat Chimaev moment
Fans quickly saw the similarities between Walker’s UFC Shanghai plan and Chimaev’s move against Holland — only, things did not go quite as planned for the former.
The Brazilian was hilariously trolled for unsuccessfully attempting to replicate the newly crowned middleweight king. Chimaev dominated Dricus du Plessis earlier this month at UFC 319 to collect the 185-pound gold.
As he geared up to headline the first event since that Chicago PPV, Walker looked to channel his inner Chimaev by shaving off his mustache and rocking the Chechen star’s look.
“Watching too many Khamzat reels.”
“Bro thought he was Khamzat. Johnny Walker’s the best.”
“Man thought he had superior grappling after shaving his mustache.”
“That’s classic Johnny Walker energy unpredictable and unforgettable every time!”
“Bro tried to be Khamzat.”
“Thought it was going to be over for Johnny within 2 minutes after this.”
“Johnny Chimaev.”
“Johnny Walker really thought he was Khamzat Chimaev, but botched it massively and ended on bottom within 5 seconds.”
Having survived the less-than-ideal start and rallied to stop Mingyang in round two, Walker will likely look back and laugh at his bold move to start the fight.