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#4. Johnny Walker vs. Khalil Rountree – UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Ponzinibbio
Nobody really knew what to expect of Johnny Walker when he was signed to make his UFC debut in late 2018. He’d earned his shot at the big show with a win on the Brazilian version of Dana White’s Contender Series, but with few fans paying attention to that series, he remained largely unknown.
That all changed inside a period just two minutes when he stepped into the octagon against dangerous striker Khalil Rountree. At the time, ‘The War Horse’ was coming off a win over K-1 legend Gokhan Saki and looked set to make a run up the rankings at 205 pounds.
Evidently, however, Walker didn’t care for the dangerous reputation of his opponent. After gaging the distance, he closed in and grabbed the former TUF finalist in a Thai plum clinch.
Rountree attempted to pull free, but before he could, Walker nailed him with a short-range elbow to the temple, switching his lights off in a flash.
‘The War Horse’ was sent crashing to the ground and two more punches sealed the victory for Walker, who had debuted in the UFC in the most stunning way possible. The victory earned him a $50k bonus and instantly turned him into a prospect to watch at light heavyweight.
#3. Johnny Walker vs. Justin Ledet – UFC Fight Night: Assuncao vs. Moraes
Less than three months after his UFC debut win over Khalil Rountree, Johnny Walker was back in the octagon to take on Justin Ledet. Again, this looked like a tricky bout for the Brazilian, as despite coming off a loss, ‘El Blanco’ had far more UFC experience than Walker and was 3-1 in the promotion.
If fans expected Walker to produce fewer fireworks than he’d done in his debut fight, though, they were hugely mistaken. Instead, he delivered one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history and did so in perhaps the wildest way possible.
This time, Walker didn’t even bother to gage the distance. As Ledet came forward with a jab, the Brazilian dodged him, then landed a hook kick and followed it with a spinning backfist.
The shot connected cleanly, dropping Ledet to his knees. Before he could recover, Walker swarmed on him to force referee Eduardo Herdy to step in after just 15 seconds, giving him the fifth-fastest finish in UFC light heavyweight history.
Bizarrely, things could’ve gone differently, too. Replays showed that as Ledet hit the deck, Walker narrowly missed with a wild soccer kick that would’ve been illegal. Had it landed, he would’ve been disqualified.
The crazy win, as well as the fact that he’d come so close to landing a needless illegal blow, summed the Brazilian’s style up perfectly. Suddenly, Walker went from prospect to potential star.
