Las Vegas — Valter Walker entered UFC Vegas 102 much lighter, and admitted he’d made a “whole life change,” mixing things up in everything from his training to his life at home.
The heavyweight, brother of UFC star Johnny Walker, earned his second straight heel hook submission win when he put away Don’Tale Mayes in the opening round of their preliminary card fight on Saturday. It appears, with that in mind, that making changes has truly paid off.
“When I lost my first fight in the UFC, I quickly changed everything. It was like so much for me, the loss,” Walker (13-1) told media outlets including Cageside Press following his win at the UFC Apex. Walker lost to Lukasz Brzeski last April, in what remains his only defeat as a pro. “Because I feel I disappointed my brother, I disappointed my coach, I disappointed my wife. I went home, I felt very upset.”
After going on vacation following that fight, he called his wife in tears, and realized that he needed to change his life.
“And it changed very quickly. First it was hard, now already it’s started being easy. After one year living like this, already it’s easy. First six months were so hard. But it’s the price. If you want to become a good fighter, if you want to become a champion, you need to pay the price. If you’re not ready to pay the price, you can’t be competitive in this business.”
Echoing a sentiment held by many fighters, Walker added that “in the UFC, I see it’s another level. Another level of fights, it’s another level of people. Everything is another level. You need to sacrifice if you want to be into the top. It’s really true. You think this is like Instagram bullsh*t, but it’s not Instagram bullsh*t. If you want to go to the top, you need to really sacrifice. It’s not bullsh*t, it’s true.”
Inspirational advice aside, Walker also let slip that the heel hook submissions he’s pulled off in the UFC thus far represent just one of three variants of the move that he has in his bakc pocket. Promising with a laugh not to teach anyone present to defend the submission, he added that only those who work with him in the gym get that information.
“I have like three variations from the leg. I use in the UFC only one. I have two, three more variations. What they [do to defend] from the heel hook, what they do, only in the gym. Only if you’re training with me, they know what to do for that. If you defend that, I’m ready for the variation. If you defend, I go to the other leg, another variation. I’m ready.”
“I don’t show yet brother. It’s secret. I have more variations,” Valter Walker added. A statement that should have his fellow UFC heavyweights looking to protect their legs.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 102 post-fight appearance by Valter Walker above.
