Valter Walker fires back at Alex Pereira over sparring dare

Valter Walker has answered Alex Pereira’s sparring challenge and turned up the heat on the feud between the two Brazilian UFC heavyweights. In a social media video and in an interview with the Brazilian show Sexto Round on Wednesday, Walker demanded a plane ticket for the session, said the former two-division champion has a wounded ego and predicted he will lose to Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas.

The response came two days after Pereira told Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana that Walker had run from an invitation to train. Pereira offered to pay for Walker’s trip and to hand him the equivalent of his last fight purse if Walker could submit him in sparring. VF Comunica covered how Pereira’s challenge started.

Walker’s video asking Pereira for a ticket

In the video, recorded alongside his coach, Walker accepted the dare but sent the bill back to Pereira. “Buy it, and I’ll head straight to Las Vegas to get a hold of your foot,” he said, according to Sherdog’s translation.

He also offered a second option. If Pereira would rather not train at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, Walker said he would buy him a business-class ticket to Russia, where Walker lives and trains. “If you don’t want me grabbing your foot at the Performance Institute, no problem,” he said.

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Wounded ego, imported cars and a bet on Pavlovich

On Sexto Round, the tone got harsher. “He has a very wounded ego,” Walker said. “Everything for him is about money; everything is about buying imported cars.” He added that Pereira does not even fit inside the last imported car he bought, which he said was only to show off his money.

Walker trains at Gor MMA in Russia alongside Pavlovich and predicted the Russian will knock Pereira out in the first round. He made it clear he wants Pereira next, saying all it takes is for Pavlovich to knock him out and for Walker to get one more submission in his next fight.

According to U.S. outlets that covered the interview, Walker also said Pereira’s future is back at the tire shop, a reference to the former champion’s past. Part of his comments included personal insults that VF Comunica chose not to publish. No fight between the two has been booked.

The submission record Walker shares with Demian Maia

The foot talk is backed by his record. Walker is ranked No. 11 at heavyweight and is 16-1 in MMA. He has won his last five UFC fights by submission, all in the first round.

That run includes four straight heel hooks, against Junior Tafa, Don’Tale Mayes, Kennedy Nzechukwu and Louie Sutherland, and a calf slicer on Thomas Petersen at 1:32 on July 25 in Abu Dhabi. According to the UFC, that win made him only the second fighter of the promotion’s modern era with five straight submission wins, matching Demian Maia.

Maia did it in his first five UFC fights, between 2007 and 2009, with rear-naked chokes and triangles. Walker also became just the fourth fighter in UFC history to win by calf slicer, joining Charles Oliveira, Brett Johns and Alice Ardelean.

In Jiu-Jitsu, the heel hook is the most feared leg attack because it twists the knee and leaves little time to tap. VF Comunica has already broken down the details of another foot lock, the straight ankle lock, with Natã Tenca.

What is at stake for Pereira at UFC 335

Pereira made his heavyweight debut in June and lost to Ciryl Gane by second-round TKO for the interim title. He later accused the UFC of manipulating fans to book Gane vs. Josh Hokit, a claim Dana White and Daniel Cormier denied.

He returns against Pavlovich at UFC 335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena.

Do you think Alex Pereira should buy the ticket and spar with Valter Walker? Tell us in the comments.

Read more:

• Alex Pereira says Valter Walker ran, offers his purse for sparring
• Alex Pereira accuses UFC of manipulating fans to book Gane vs. Hokit
• How to finish the straight ankle lock: Natã Tenca shows the detail that makes it hurt