‘You’re just a man’: Valter Walker explains why he doesn’t want top 10 opponent after UFC Nashville finish

UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu v Walker — Valter Walker hugs his brother Johnny Walker at UFC Nashville | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Valter Walker continues to impress in the UFC heavyweight division, collecting his third straight heel hook finish by tapping out Kennedy Nzechukwu in under a minute at UFC Nashville. With a $50,000 bonus cashed and three quick stoppages, Walker refuses to let the hype take control of his future.

Instead of calling for a top-ranked opponent next—which would be reasonable considering how shallow the UFC heavyweight class is at the moment—Walker asks for time to build confidence and experience.

“I’m very happy because I won and got the bonus and a new contract, but I was unhappy with my despair,” Walker told MMA Fighting. “I thought I would be more calm. The moment I threw a jab and he held my glove, that surprised me. I thought he was going to walk backwards. 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. That’s a mistake I want to go back to the gym and train. I have a ton of wrestling, I don’t know why that happened. I don’t know if it was lack of experience or me being immature because the arena was packed, all that noise. It was a silly mistake I have to fix. I’m glad I was able to fix that mistake quickly.”

Walker is open to returning to action as early as September, possibly competing on the UFC Paris card, or the following month on a planned Fight Night show in Rio de Janeiro. He would like to face the “very tough” undefeated prospect Mario Pinto, not a top-ranked foe.

“I know the top 10 guys are on a whole other level,” Walker said. “Like I said before, I don’t want to be there now. I don’t. I’m saying this over and over again, I don’t want to be ranked now. I’m not ready. If I can hold on for a year and a half, two years, cool, then I can be on the ranking. If I go to the rankings now, I’ll be upset. That would be against my will.”

The UFC might not give him that treatment given the lack of stars in the heavyweight class today, and instead book him against someone ranked between 11 and 15. Walker believes he can have a bright future if treated with patience, and it will all depend on how the UFC sees him.

“If they want me to be a heavyweight star, they will have patience,” Walker said. “Now, if they want me to go to the ranking and win one fight and lose four and get cut and no one knows who I am anymore, they’ll throw me up there. It’s their choice. There’s nothing I can do. I’ll dance the music they play. But our plans have to be aligned so I can reach my full potential as an athlete and offer it to the company. I believe I can offer them my greatest potential, a better Valter, but I need time to work on that Valter. I reach offer the UFC a better version of me, I just need time to evolve. If they have patience, I can become a star.”

Walker cites Tallison Teixeira and his own brother Johnny Walker as examples. Teixeira was only 1-0 in the UFC—a 35-second knockout over Justin Tafa in February—when he was offered a main event bout with Derrick Lewis at UFC Nashville. Lewis, the record owner for most knockouts in company history, coincidentally finished Teixeira in just 35 seconds. Valter’s brother Johnny had a meteoric rise in the UFC with a trio of knockouts before losing to Corey Anderson, and today holds a record of 7-6 with one no-contest in the promotion.

“I was very sad that [Teixeira] lost,” Walker said. “I believed he would get past Derrick, I told him that, but then what? ‘You’re only 25 and you’re in the top 8. Who are you going to fight in the top 8? There are only badasses there and you’re 25. You can’t fight them yet.’ And he didn’t get through Derrick. It’s a whole other muscle mass, a whole other knockout power, a whole other experience. The stoppage was early, but what if he didn’t stop it? What if another hand lands? ‘Xicão’ could be f*cked now.

“Or maybe he recovers and beats Derrick? Yes, we’ll never know. But you have to stay with your feet on the ground and fight your reality. A wise man knows his limits. I can’t say something like, ‘I’ll do this and that,’ knowing I can’t. I can’t lie to myself. I have to be honest with myself.”

“I’m going to say something I’ve never said before,” he continued. “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. My coach told him, ‘Man, you’re not ready for Corey Anderson. You better say you’re not ready. Not yet.’ And then 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. They’re honest. Johnny felt offended, you know? F*ck, but they say the truth and you feel offended. Why people lie to make your eyes glow, you like it. And then you get screwed and everyone disappears, you know?”

Walker made weight for UFC Nashville wearing a cowboy hat and holding two rubber feet around his neck to refer to his heel hook finishes, and said he planned to have them for the face-offs and walkout before his wife called him. She advised him against the idea, saying it was time to stay focused and not joke around because he be the one to “suffer the consequences” had he lost the fight.

“When you start to grow and become famous, make money, it’s normal to have that ego,” Walker said. “You start to think you’re the best. You can’t change with those around you. You need to hear people because they will set limits. Everybody has flaws, but you need to have the flaws that are acceptable. You can’t cross a line. My brother is a completely different man today. He’s still a bit lunatic, but he’s more mature now. I tell him the truth and he listens, and I listen when he tells me the truth.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of this story but I believe it was in Greece, the warrior king would have a slave walking behind them murmuring, ‘You’re just a man.’ Kings would win wars and be treated as gods and then they would think they were unbeatable, but would always have a slave reminding them, ‘You’re just a man.’ I think that’s very important for an athlete, especially one in the UFC. A fight week is crazy, they make you feel like a star. The fans, the arena, photoshoots, interviews. You have to be very mature otherwise it goes bad.”

‘You’re just a man’: Valter Walker explains why he doesn’t want top 10 opponent after UFC Nashville finish

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