Johnny Walker has taken a few knocks during his rise to the top.
The light-heavyweight contender, who will fight Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 294 on Saturday night, is closing in on a shot at the biggest prize in mixed martial arts.
Despite that, the Brazilian has been reminded about a time before his epic run in MMA's premier promotion when he was knocked out three times in 18 seconds.
Footage of Walker’s last defeat outside the UFC has gone viral ahead of his fight at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
The freak incident occurred at Jungle Fight 88 in June 2016, more than two years before the 31-year-old earned a contract with Dana White's MMA league.
At the time, Walker was a rising star of Brazil’s MMA scene and he had already earned himself a reputation for putting on entertaining fights.
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Conor McGregor’s teammate had never gone the distance and carried an 8-2 record into his clash with 4-0 prospect Henrique 'Montanha' Silva.
Unfortunately for Walker, Silva stretched his winning run to five and only needed 18 seconds to do it – but referee Douglas Aires should’ve ended their fight much sooner.
The 6ft 5in UFC star attempted a front kick during the opening moments of his fight with Silva who dropped him with a counter right.
Walker appeared to get knocked out but regained consciousness as he hit the floor and immediately began trying to lock up his opponent’s legs.
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Silva continued to hammer away with head strikes and seemingly brought a conclusive end to his fifth professional bout as Walker collapsed.
The referee looked poised to step in, but Walker regained consciousness once again and charged at 'Montanha' who dropped him with a combination of hooks.
Walker continued to scramble but Silva was able to unleash a flurry of ground strikes that knocked him out cold for a third time and convinced the referee to wave things off.
Silva suffered a quick KO loss in his next fight and took a three-year hiatus from MMA before getting submitted by Hugo Cunha in August 2019.
The 5-2 fighter hasn’t fought since. Meanwhile, Walker has bounced back from his viral defeat and become one of the most recognisable fighters in the UFC.
Walker won five consecutive fights before impressing White in August 2018 when he secured the first decision win of his MMA career on The Contender Series.
Walker quickly became a fan favourite as he scored four consecutive first-round knockout finishes before dislocating his shoulder while celebrating a flying knee win over Misha Cirkunov in March 2019.
A step up in opposition followed and Walker lost four of his next five fights.
After reinventing himself under the tutelage of John Kavanagh, Walker is now on a three-fight win streak and set to face his second consecutive former title challenger.
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A victory over Ankalaev will make him the number one contender to face whoever wins the light heavyweight title fight between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira at UFC 295 on November 11.
Perhaps winning a UFC belt will help people forget Walker was knocked out three times in 18 seconds during his rise through the ranks.
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