Do not leave your heels exposed if you ever find yourself standing in a cage opposite Valter Walker.
The streaking Brazilian heavyweight started quickly against Kennedy Nzechukwu on the preliminary card of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Nashville, blitzing his opponent early and dropping to his back to secure a fight-ending heel hook in just 54 seconds.
Walker, the younger brother of UFC light-heavyweight star Johnny Walker, became the first fighter in UFC history to record a heel hook submission win in three consecutive fights.
The 27-year-old tapped out Don’Tale Mayes in February and Junior Tafa last August with variations of the same maneuver before defeating Nzechukwu.
Walker is now just one heel hook win away from tying the UFC record for most total heel hook subs in the organization’s history.
Former UFC middleweight Rousimar Palhares holds that record with four career heel hook submission wins in the UFC. Palhares set that record in his ninth UFC appearance, while Walker already has three such wins in four UFC appearances. Walker lost his UFC debut to Lukasz Brzeski 15 months ago.
Meanwhile, Jake Matthews also got his hand raised at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena thanks to a quick first-round submission, requiring just 69 seconds to finish Chidi Njokuani in welterweight action.
Matthews ate a couple of hard body kicks early but took the bout to the canvas with a nifty foot sweep and immediately jumped on Njokuani’s back. Instead of fighting off Matthews’ hands, Njokuani stood up and walked to the fence with Matthews on his back.
Rather than locking in a traditional rear-naked choke, Matthews went for a short choke so even when Njokuani swung him off to the side, he was able to finish the submission and force a tap.
“As soon as he stood up, I knew I had it,” Matthews said after the win.
Matthews is only 30 years old but is already an 11-year and 22-fight UFC veteran and has now won three in a row and four of his past five.
The only loss Matthews had in that span was a decision to undefeated top-10 contender Michael Morales.
Matthews called for a ranked opponent for his next matchup and singled out one-time title challenger Gibert Burns as a possible option. Burns is currently the No. 10-ranked contender in the 170-pound division.
The featured preliminary bout saw Chris Curtis snap a two-fight losing streak, edging out Max Griffin via split decision.
Curtis, who turns 38 next week, was competing in the welterweight division for the first time during his UFC tenure and the first time overall since 2021. He had gone 5-4 with one no-contest competing in the UFC’s 185-pound division over his past 10 fights, but his recent cold streak — a close split decision to Brendan Allen 15 months ago and a last-second TKO loss to Roman Kopylov in January — led to him dropping down to 170 pounds.
Curtis’s most recent appearance as a welterweight was a unanimous decision win over UFC alumnus Kenny Robertson at an XMMA event four years ago, a win that earned Curtis a shot in the UFC.
Griffin had been alternating wins and losses over the past few years but is now on a two-fight skid and has lost three of four. The 39-year-old fell to 8-10 in his 18-fight UFC career since debuting in 2016.
Fatima Kline celebrated her 25th birthday in style as she opened the preliminary card with a knockout victory over fellow strawweight Melissa Martinez.
Kline was ahead on the scorecards through two rounds, out-landing Martinez in significant strikes 32-17 in Round 1, then 35-18 in Round 2 before turning up the tempo in Round 3, eventually landing a massive head kick midway through the final round that put Martinez away.
It was Kline’s fourth career win by KO/TKO and her second consecutive stoppage win at the UFC level. Kline, now 8-1 as a pro, debuted in 2024 with a decision loss to red-hot Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius up in the 125-pound flyweight division before moving down to her usual 115-pound weight class.
Mike Davis got back in the win column with a second-round technical knockout of Mitch Ramirez in lightweight action.
Davis had a four-fight winning streak snapped in February with a unanimous decision loss to Fares Ziam, but had a strong showing against Ramirez, who fell to 0-2 in the UFC.
This marked the first time since 2019 that Davis has fought more than once in the same year. Davis, 32, controlled the opening round on the ground and had several rear-naked choke attempts. The pair traded strikes in the second round and, even though Ramirez landed some powerful punches, Davis effectively worked the body and finished the fight with a combination of strikes that began with a flying knee.
Also on the preliminary card, Lauren Murphy ended her impressive professional mixed martial arts career on a losing note by dropping a unanimous decision to Eduarda Moura.
Murphy came close on a guillotine choke submission in the final round, but could not force a tap and had lost the opening two rounds according to the judges.
The 41-year-old returned to the UFC for the first time in 2.5 years for one final fight. The one-time flyweight title challenger retires with a pro record of 16-7. She was an Invicta FC champion before her UFC career and holds a notable win over former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate. Murphy challenged Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title at UFC 266 in 2021.
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