“Clean Monster” wants a slow push …
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight submission savant, Valter Walker, scored his third consecutive heel hook finish against Kennedy Nzechukwu, tapping out “African Savage” in less than one minute at UFC Nashville this past weekend (Sat., July 12, 2025) inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee (watch highlights).
With three wins now under his belt — all by finish — and the Heavyweight division being razor-thin, one might assume Walker would get a Top 15 matchup next. However, he’s adamant about avoiding a ranked opponent, especially after his admittedly reckless start against Nzechukwu.
“I thought I would be more calm,” Walker recently told MMAFighting.com “The moment I threw a jab and he held my glove, that surprised me. I thought he was going to back up. I started running and chasing him, and that was a serious mistake.
“If he was more experienced — someone ranked in the Top 10 — he would have knocked me out, no doubt,” Walker added. “That’s a mistake — I don’t know why that happened. I don’t know if it was a lack of experience or me being immature because the arena was packed, all that noise.
“I know the Top 10 guys are on a whole other level,” Walker continued. “Like I said before, I don’t want to be there now. I’m saying this over and over again — I don’t want to be ranked now. I’m not ready. If I can hold off for a year and a half, two years, cool, then I can be in the rankings. If I go to the rankings now, I’ll be upset. That would be against my will.”
The brutally honest Brazilian referenced his brother, Johnny Walker, and one-half of UFC Nashville’s headliner, Tallison Teixeira, as fighters who were rushed into the rankings only to see their hype derailed quickly.
“I’m going to say something I’ve never said before,” Walker said. “My brother went to the UFC and had three knockouts, and everybody was like, ‘He’ll beat Jon Jones.’ Brother, Jon Jones only fought champions and ex-champions his entire life. Johnny beat three cans. The only real one was Khalil Rountree.
“We went to Russia to train at that time, and they offered him Corey Anderson,” Walker continued. “My coach told him, ‘Man, you’re not ready for Corey Anderson. You’d better say you’re not ready … not yet.’ Another coach said, ‘No, he’s ready. He will beat Corey Anderson and then fight Jon Jones and become champion.’
“When he said that, all the Russians started laughing,” Walker concluded. “They’re honest. Johnny felt offended, you know?”
In case you forgot, Anderson crushed Walker in two minutes (watch it) and has never recaptured the same magic he once had.
Don’t blame “The Worm!”
Nevertheless, a slow rise in the division for Heavyweight Walker seems unlikely because of the lack of bodies (only 32 Heavyweight athletes are listed on UFC’s active roster). For his next matchup, Walker called out undefeated British prospect, Mario Pinto, who brutally knocked out Austen Lane in his Octagon debut earlier this year (watch highlights).
Fair progression?
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