Valter Walker joined Demian Maia as the only men to score five submissions in a row in the modern era of the UFC, but won’t get too cocky about his accomplishments. Instead, he looks at another jiu-jitsu star as inspiration as he attempts to climb the heavyweight rankings.
Walter tapped out Junior Tafa, Don’Tale Mayes, Kennedy Nzechukwu, Louie Sutherland and Thomas Petersen in his past five bouts, tying Maia’s five straight submissions between 2007 and 2009 against Ryan Jensen, Ed Herman, Jason MacDonald, Nate Quarry and Chael Sonnen.
When asked about that record run after his recent victory at UFC Abu Dhabi, Walker didn’t celebrate.
“For me, it’s not about how many submissions you have, but who you submitted,” Walker told MMA Fighting. “You didn’t mention his name, but I will. To me, the best of them all is [Fabricio] Werdum because it’s about who Werdum submitted, not how many submissions he has. Werdum submitted Fedor Emelianenko, he submitted Cain Velasquez. So, to me, Werdum is the greatest heavyweight of all time.”
Werdum, a former UFC heavyweight champion, won a third of his octagon victories by submission, tapping out Alexander Gustafsson, Walt Harris, Cain Velasquez and Rodrigo Nogueira. His overall MMA record also includes a triangle choke versus Emelianenko in Strikeforce and a kimura over Alistair Overeem in PRIDE.
“It would be an honor for me to match him, but I don’t think I’m even close to his level,” Walker said. “I still have a long road ahead of me. I’m young, I’m 28 years old. Sure, I’m accomplishing some things, but I think when I’m 32 or 33, I’ll be a completely different fighter from who I am today. I’m always chasing improvement, and I don’t fool myself. I’m honest. I know I’m submitting a lot of guys, but they’re guys who, honestly, don’t really have big names yet, you know? It’s an achievement, but it’s not an achievement like Werdum’s, for example. When I set a goal, I look at the very best. And to me, the best is Fabrício Werdum.”
Walker earned a spot on the MMA Fighting Global Rankings prior to his latest Abu Dhabi finish, a division that has Tom Aspinall, Ciryl Gane, Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and Josh Hokit listed as the five best on the UFC roster right now. Walker isn’t sure who he would need to tap out in order to compare to Werdum’s finishes over Emelianenko and Velasquez.
“It’s a different era, and that’s what makes it complicated,” Walker said. “With this new generation, we’ll only know in the future who will become the legends of today’s MMA, so there’s no way to know right now. I could become a legend, but I’m not one yet. I could become one, you know? So maybe some of the guys I’ve already submitted will eventually become legends, and then those submissions will carry more weight. But right now, I don’t see anyone I could submit that would put me on the same level as those guys. There’s just no way.
“I understand that I’m part of a new generation of heavyweights, but right now I don’t see anyone in our division with the kind of legacy that compares to our Brazilian heavyweight heroes, our Brazilian legends. Right now, I don’t see anyone in the heavyweight division who measures up to them.”
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