Valter Walker’s Three Heel Hook Submissions in the UFC in 2025: Why You Need to See This
Valter Walker has pulled off something so rare in the UFC’s history that nearly no fighter before him managed it. In 2025, the Brazilian heavyweight became the first fighter ever to secure three consecutive heel hook submission wins in a single year, now making it four in a row.
Valter Walker’s Heel Hooks
Walker‘s streak began in August 2024 against Junior Tafa at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, where he caught Tafa with a heel hook 4 minutes and 56 seconds into round one. Tafa screamed in agony rather than tap, forcing referee Steve Percival to stop the fight. What followed was pure drama, Tafa slapped Walker after the decision, mouthed off, and flipped the bird during the official announcement. Walker returned the trash talk in his post-fight interview, but the real statement came in his next fight.
In February 2025 at UFC Fight Night 251, Walker dispatched Don’Tale Mayes with a heel hook in 77 seconds. Walker immediately shot for a takedown, brought Mayes to the ground, seized one of his legs, and the fight was over. Mayes, now 33 years old, has lost three of his last four contests, but that context doesn’t diminish the speed at which Walker finished him. According to reports from the Brazilian press after the fight, Walker was surprised by how effortless the victory was, he’d expected Mayes to put up more of a fight.
Then came July 2025 at UFC Nashville. Walker faced Kennedy Nzechukwu on the preliminary card and blitzed him early, dropping to his back and securing the submission in just 54 seconds. The moment was historic: Walker became the first fighter in UFC history to record a heel hook submission win in three consecutive fights. He’d done it faster each time. August to Tafa took five minutes. February against Mayes took one minute 17 seconds. July against Nzechukwu took 54 seconds. The progression is impossible to ignore.
Additionally, at UFC 321 in October, he submitted Louie Sutherland at just 1:24 of round one via heel hook. This made it four heel hooks in a row, with three in 2025.
The significance goes beyond the numbers. Heel hooks are submission techniques that target the knee, requiring specific positioning and understanding of leverage to execute properly. In the heavyweight division, they’ve been considered impractical for years. Heavyweights lack the mobility and flexibility that lighter fighters possess, making leg lock submissions historically high-risk and often ineffective. When Walker first started emphasizing heel hooks in training, he faced pushback from everyone around him.
“Nobody really believed I can do that because at heavyweight, you don’t have too much mobility on the ground,” Walker explained. “When I started to do that, everybody who was around me, they said, ‘This don’t work for heavyweight.'”
“I told you everyone, watch out for the foot lock, and I have more,” Walker said after beating Nzechukwu, addressing the heavyweight division directly in his post-fight interview.
Three different opponents, three times, same submission, all finished in round one. Walker’s striking continues to develop, but his proficiency in securing takedowns and executing submissions has proven too difficult to counter. The challenge now facing the division is clear: either dedicate substantial training to defending against leg locks or risk becoming the next victim on his highlight reel.
His brother, Johnny Walker, is a UFC light heavyweight contender ranked 12th in his division as of August 2025. Valter arrived in the UFC with his debut loss to Lukasz Brzeski in April 2024, but he’s since rattled off three straight wins, each more impressive than the last. He’s no longer the guy trying to find his footing, he’s become the guy everyone else needs to figure out.
