Heavyweight action at UFC Vegas 102 found Don’Tale Mayes paired up with Brazilian Valter Walker early on the preliminary card.
Walker, brother of popular UFC light heavyweight Johnny Walker, was looking for his second straight win inside the octagon. Mayes for his part had lost his last outing, dropping a decision to Shamil Gaziev last August.
Valter Walker started the fight with a level change and immediate takedown. That gave Valter tons of time to work, and he wound up going after a heel hook. Mayes didn’t seem to have much of an answer on the ground, and simply could not defend the position or pull his leg free. Holding out for a bit, he was left with no choice but to tap, giving Valter Walker the heel hook submission win! Somewhat incredibly, that is Walker’s second straight heel hook submission, as he put away Junior Tafa with the same submission back in August.
In his post-fight interview with Walker, UFC analyst and broadcaster Daniel Cormier noted that Walker had predicted another submission win ahead of the bout. The Brazilian was clearly fired up, and seems to have put a debut loss to Łukasz Brzeski well behind him.
Official Result: Valter Walker def. Don’Tale Mayes by submission (heel hook), Round 1, 1:17
