Valter Walker didn’t get a heel hook this time, but he added another leg submission to his trophy wall.
Walker faced Thomas Petersen in a heavyweight preliminary matchup at Saturday’s UFC Abu Dhabi event. Petersen landed an early takedown within the first minute of action, but Walker was able to transition into a heel hook. Petersen did his best to scoot away from danger, and Walker tried to catch him. Eventually, Walker grabbed the waist of Peterson and locked in a calf slicer, which led Petersen to immediately tap out.
Check out video of Walker’s fifth straight first-round submission below.
The official time of the finish was at 92 seconds.
Walker is now 5-1 in the UFC after picking up his fifth consecutive victory, currently the longest win streak in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Prior to Saturday, Walker picked up opening-round heel hook submissions over Junior Tafa, Don’Tale Mayes, Kennedy Nzechukwu, and Louie Sutherland.
Following the win, Walker made a strange call-out of Herb Dean, blaming the veteran referee for his fellow Brazilian Alex Pereira losing to Ciryl Gane in their interim championship fight at UFC White House.
“I want Herb Dean,” Walker said in Portuguese (translation via MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz). “He screwed over our Indian [Pereira] in a cowardly way. I’m gonna get Herb Dean and do nothing but elbow the back of his head, man. F*ck, he did our Indian dirty. I’m gonna get revenge. I’ve got my eye on him.”
Petersen drops to 3-4 in the UFC, flip-flopping losses and wins throughout his promotional run. He loses by submission for the first time in his 16-fight career.
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