Balter Walker received an unconventional title throughout the heavyweight division. Followers and commentators alike have come to name him “The Foot Collector” after his historic streak of consecutive heel hooks within the Final Preventing Championship. The Brazilian fighter, who stands 6 ft 6 inches tall and trains with GOR MMA in Moscow, has completed one thing unprecedented within the heavyweight division in 2025. He achieved three consecutive first-round submission wins all utilizing the identical ending method.
UFC Foot Corrector: Understanding the Benefit of Balter Walker’s Heel Hook
Walker’s submission file stands out as a result of heel hooks stay uncommon in heavyweight, a division that has traditionally been dominated by putting energy and conventional wrestling. Earlier than Walker, the file for many heel hook finishes in a heavyweight division was two. Walker’s feat places him one heel hook away from tying Lucimar Palhares’ all-time UFC file of 4 heel hook submissions. This file is held by Palhares in all weight courses.
What makes this much more exceptional is the condensed timeline by which Walker carried out every submission throughout the opening spherical to realize these finishes at every of UFC on ESPN 70, UFC Struggle Evening on ESPN 179, and UFC 305.
Earlier than entering into the cage, Walker examines his opponent’s bodily traits by sure standards: if he has flat ft. In an interview after the win, Walker defined that flat-footed gamers have a tough time defending towards heel hook assaults as a result of the place of the ankle creates a vulnerability that may be exploited via rotation and torque.
Walker’s first back-to-back heel hook finishes got here towards Junior Tafa at UFC 305 on August 17, 2024, securing a verbal submission at 4:56 of the primary spherical. The circumstances surrounding this win sparked debate throughout the MMA neighborhood as as to if Tafa really tapped or just refused to proceed, however the win nonetheless improved Walker’s undefeated UFC file to 9-0 at that time.
His second heel hook end got here on February 15, 2025, following his 14-6 MMA combat towards Don Story Mays, when Walker pressured a faucet simply 1 minute and 17 seconds into spherical one. The velocity of this submission impressed observers conversant in professional-level leglock protection.
The third and maybe most important heel hook occurred on July 12, 2025, when Walker confronted Kennedy Nizechuk at UFC on ESPN 70 in Nashville. Nzechukwu brings professional credentials to this bout as a 14-6 fighter recognized for his knockout means and confidence since transferring to heavyweight.
After a fast takedown and a brief scramble, Walker reversed his physique place and put himself in a grappler’s heel hook place. This reversal allowed Walker to manage Nzechuk’s heel whereas utilizing his weight on the ankle joint. Nzechukwu made a determined faucet simply 54 seconds later. Feedback from an evaluation of the submitting pointed to the textbook nature of Walker’s execution: the quick reversal and the whole lack of defensive choices for Nzechukwu.
Heel hook submissions primarily goal the ankle joint via rotational strain utilized to the heel, creating stress in each the ankle and knee joints. In contrast to submissions, which may be overcome via power, the heel hook’s effectiveness comes from leverage and anatomical constraints somewhat than uncooked energy.
This method can show significantly damaging, as as soon as established, the defending fighter can not generate sufficient response drive to flee via drive alone. This biomechanical actuality explains why Walker is ready to end a lot bigger and extra skilled strikers who would usually depend on their bodily benefit. The heel hook entered the UFC consciousness via the exploits of leglock pioneers like Dean Lister, after which most notably via the controversial determine Lucimar Palhares, however till Walker’s latest emergence, it was comparatively uncommon within the heavyweight division.
