If Johnny Walker’s approach in the opening frame of the UFC Shanghai main event seemed out of character, well, there’s a reason for that.
The Brazilian shot for a takedown at the outset of his light heavyweight clash with Mingyang Zhang, an ill-advised decision which led to him absorbing elbows from his back. Walker would survive the predicament and looked more like himself in Round 2, when he hurt his adversary with leg kicks before swarming with punches to force a stoppage at the 2:37 mark of the period.
It was Walker’s first fight since a first-round KO loss against Volkan Oezdemir last June, and he admitted that the layoff did affect him in the early going on Saturday.