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There are signature techniques and then there are obsessions.
You could say Valter Walker has a foot fetish – no, not in that way.
Walker (15-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) continues to snatch heel after heel in the UFC, repeatedly making his heavyweight opponents writhe in pain. It’s four in a row for the Brazilian big guy, who most recently dispatched promotional newcomer Louie Sutherland at UFC 321 in a mere 84 seconds.
His opponents live a dangerous life inside the cage.
“If you don’t know how to defend, it’s dangerous and you don’t have too much time for defense, as well,” Walker told MMA Junkie Radio on Friday. “… They know what they’re going to do and they cannot defend. In the gym as well, in training, my sparring partners, they know I’ll do that. Sometimes, they defend. Sometimes, they don’t defend. Because it’s my friends, my sparring partners, my friends, I don’t go to break the foot. I go for the choke. In the fight, I go for broke, because it’s more dangerous.”
According to Walker, the implementation of the rare attack to his arsenal was self-initiated. No one pushed him to do it. In fact, he received more pushback not to do it – until he met coach Gor Azizyan, who was willing to take the risk with him.
“Nobody really believed I can do that because at heavyweight, you don’t have too much mobility on the ground,” Walker said. “When I started to do that, everybody who was around me, they said, ‘This don’t work for heavyweight. This don’t work. You need to do a knockout. This is not for you. You cannot work like that. Only my coach, Gor, my head coach, he told me, ‘Listen, if you do this one fast, you can do it. You can break guys’ legs. If you do it fast, they don’t have time to defend. It’s impossible. If you believe and you do it really fast, they won’t have time for defense and this is going to work.’
“When he talked like that, everybody said, ‘Hey, this is very dangerous. I don’t think this is a good idea. It’s a very big risk. Don’t do that.’ I said to coach, ‘I want to try.’ He said, ‘If you want to try, just try. But if something bad happens, it’s your decision and I’ll support you. But if you believe, it’s possible.’ I said, ‘I believe.’ And we started doing this.”
Walker first caught Junior Tafa with it in August 2024. Then, he tapped Don’Tale Mayes with it in 87 seconds and Kennedy Nzechukwu with it in 54 seconds. That led to the Sutherland win on Oct. 25.
Walker said he’d be lying if he didn’t pull some inspiration from one of the most controversial fighters in MMA history, Rousimar Palhares, a combatant feared for his gnarly leg submissions and lack of letting go even after the tap.
It delights Walker to know he’s starting to build an aura like Palhares, or like recently-retired Paul Craig for his triangle submissions, or even Ronda Rousey for her armbars.
“I didn’t believe I can do (what Palhares did),” Walker said. “When I was younger, I watched this and thought he was very high technique, like, only special guys can do that. But I tell you, I’m a simple normal guy as well. I’m just training and have discipline. I just train every day, for six years, two times in a day. I think I can do this one very good because this is my technique. Some guys have very good punches, very good takedowns, very good triangles. Paul Craig, he had a very good triangle. People know he’s going to do that, but he does it and he’s very good. I believe I can do that.
“Like, Ronda Rousey. She take down and do the armbar. Everybody knew she was going to do that. She had eight armbars in a row. She makes this eight times in a row straight. Everybody knows she’s going to do that and nobody can stop her. I believe I can do like that, too. I believe I can do this very good and I’m the best doing this one. Nobody can stop me doing that.”
