Heavyweight star reveals nasty injury after extending insane UFC record at UFC 321

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Oct 28, 2025 12:58 PM ET

(Zuffa LLC)

In a cruel twist of fate, Valter Walker will be sidelined with a leg injury for an extended period after adding to his incredible heel hook streak at UFC 321.

Last weekend’s UFC 321 card in Abu Dhabi, UAE featured UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall and former interim titleholder Ciryl Gane at the hop of the bill, but that fight unfortunately ended in disappointment when a first-round eye poke from Gane rendered Aspinall unable to continue.

The other main card heavyweight fight where Alexander Volkov took a split decision over Jailton Almeida also wasn’t the most thrilling affair in the world, but the prelims did see Walker continue his march up the heavyweight rankings when he submitted the debuting Louie Sutherland in a little over a minute.

Valter Walker Reveals Leg Fracture After UFC 321

After they were both previously scheduled to compete at UFC Rio and UFC Perth but had their opponents withdraw, Walker and Sutherland were matched up for UFC 321 and provided the first of only two finishes on the card’s prelims.

“The Clean Monster” has now submitted a staggering four-straight opponents via heel hook and will look to extend his own UFC record the next time he fights, but Walker also revealed via Instagram that he unfortunately suffered a fracture in his leg.

(Instagram)

“I was going to keep a secret guys if you watched the live today I was in a bad mood as my leg is in too much pain but they asked me to reveal it so there it is 5-6 weeks of heavy recovery the first week and the hardest but telling you it's worth it a life worth living”

How Long Can Walker's Heel Hook Streak Continue?

The half-brother of top-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker, Valter joined the UFC with a perfect 11-0 record last year after winning the MMA Series and Titan FC heavyweight belts in back-to-back fights.

The 27-year-old’s UFC career actually got off to an inauspicious start, as he was favored to defeat Łukasz Brzeski (who entered the matchup follow three-straight losses) but dropped a unanimous decision to the Polish heavyweight in his Octagon debut.

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Having never won a fight via heel hook prior to joining the UFC, Walker kicked off his current streak of finishes at UFC 305 when he submitted Junior Tafa. “The Clean Monster” now occupies the #14 spot in the heavyweight rankings following his latest win, which earned him his second “Performance of the Night” bonus in a row after he also earned an extra $50K for his 54-second heel hook of Kennedy Nzechukwu in July.

This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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