It will be a clash of brothers at UFC Rio — although not in the way you may think.
Valter Walker is the half-brother of UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker. Muhammad Usman is the brother of former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Now the two will face off in a heavyweight tilt on October 11th in Rio de Janeiro.
Following a decision loss in his UFC debut, Valter Walker has gone 3-0 with all three wins coming via first round heel hook. “The Clean Monster” was born in Rio, but now fights out of Moscow, Russia.
Mohammad Usman is the heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 30 and is 4-2 over his six fights in the UFC. Those two losses both came in 2024, with “The Motor” getting back in the win column with a decision over Hamdy Abdelwahab in Azerbaijan.
Valker was initially linked to fight Ryan Spann, but Usman is the man the UFC settled on.
UFC Rio is filling up fast with some solid fights. The card is headlined by Charles Oliveira’s first Brazilian fight in front of an audience since November 2019 and his first fight in Rio since 2009. He’ll take on the tough as nails Rafael Fiziev. Former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo is set to fight Montel Jackson, and Vicente Luque faces Santiago Ponzinibbio.
We’ll keep you updated as more fights are added to this card.
