Valter Walker has made history as the first UFC heavyweight to secure back-to-back heel hook finishes in the octagon, and he intends to continue specializing in this technique.
He secured a first-round submission against Junior Tafa at UFC 305 in August 2024, and six months later, caught Don’Tale Mayes in a heel hook just 77 seconds into their bout. The Brazilian heavyweight is scheduled to fight Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC Nashville this Saturday and stated that he admires veteran Rousimar Palhares for his similar finishing style.
“Toquinho used that move to submit everyone,” Walker commented to MMA Fighting. “I`ve watched his highlight reels since I was 14 or 15. I`m a huge fan. I never anticipated being recognized for this technique or being compared to him. He`s an idol of mine. It was something I practiced frequently in training but lacked the confidence to attempt in a real fight.”
Palhares, a former UFC fighter and World Series of Fighting welterweight champion, achieved 16 submission victories out of his 19 MMA wins, with 10 of those being heel hooks. He gained notoriety in the sport due to accusations of holding submissions for too long, which ultimately resulted in his dismissal from both the UFC and WSOF.
“I don`t believe anyone executes it better than I do, particularly in the heavyweight division,” Walker stated. “When opponents become overly apprehensive about a specific move, that`s often what occurs. [Nzechukwu] is certainly training to defend it. I think that will create other openings for me to strike or attempt something different. I anticipate he`ll be so preoccupied with takedown defense and ground fighting that he`ll eventually err, presenting me with a chance.”
Walker mentioned the difficulty of training the move in a gym setting because an extra second could cause severe injury, leading him to modify his practice methods for the technique.
“I injured a friend during training because he attempted to defend it and stopped rolling,” Walker recounted. “He rolled, I rolled, and I expected him to continue rolling, but he didn`t. That technique is extremely risky. When I perform it in the gym and my partners defend it, it`s because I`m not applying significant force. I stopped using full force in training after that incident with my friend.”
Walker has become popular in Brazilian MMA due to his humorous social media content and mentioned that some members of his team, including his wife, have encouraged him to adopt a more intimidating persona instead.
“I attempted to portray this mean guy who can harm people and instill fear, but that`s not me,” Walker admitted. “My wife and my coach wish I`d stop joking and behave in a way that makes people fear me, telling me I should go in there and break everyone`s foot, but that`s just not who I am. I can`t do that.”
“In Australia, [Tafa] said a lot of negative things about me, and I felt like I *could* break his foot, but there`s something within me, you know? I feel bad. He yelled, and I released it. The next opponent [Mayes] tapped only once. You`re supposed to tap three times. He tapped just once, and I could have gone ahead and broken his foot, but I feel bad about it. It`s such a severe injury if you do that. Life is like a boomerang. If you do something bad to someone, you`ll pay for it later. I believe in God, but I also believe hell exists on Earth. You`ll face the consequences here before you pass away.”
