Valter Walker, brother of Johnny, details journey and alias use

The story goes a tad in a different way relying on who you ask to inform it. One verbal account paints an image – till the story is interrupted midway by means of when a element is disputed.

“He kicked my face,” Valter Walker interjected, as his brother Johnny Walker halted his recollection of their first-ever skilled coaching expertise collectively.

Johnny, with an enormous grin, tried to push again somewhat, “It was simply boxing.”

“No,” Valter stated, additionally smiling. “… This man kicked my face. … My first coaching with skilled guys, he got here in to do sparring. He kicked my face. I began to cry. Bro, I don’t know. I don’t wish to cry. I began to cry and I ran to the cage. I ran to the bathroom and began to cry. He went in the bathroom and stated, ‘Cease crying. Come again to the sparring.’ Bro. I had 5 rounds of sparring, crying. What the f*ck?”

It’s all in good enjoyable, after all.

Within the mid-2010s, Johnny and Valter lived in England. Johnny was on the point of a Dana White’s Contender Collection alternative that will skyrocket his reputation. Conversely, Valter was going to legislation college and dealing in a restaurant. MMA was not the intention.

As Valter’s weight gained, Johnny satisfied him to enter the coaching room in a full-on capability. Valter had expertise in newbie muay Thai and skilled for train, however hadn’t really skilled to combat.

The fateful and emotional beating he took from his brother on Day 1 modified the course of his life, although it’s all laughs now. Quick ahead just a few years to the current, and Valter (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is days out from his debut at UFC Battle Evening 240 in opposition to Lukasz Brzeski (8-4-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC).

“All these years, (Johnny) took care of me,” Valter stated. “I reside in Russia. We don’t reside collectively, however we speak every single day. He takes care of me. He helps me with my financials. I don’t make very large cash. I earn a living simply now. … He offers me recommendation in my coaching, my preparation, my every part. … On this second, I’m extra mature. It’s the second I come out from the shadows.”

Although their bickering is fixed and generally breaks out into playful grappling and pro-wrestling-esque choreographed placing exchanges, often in public locations with an elevated stage of depth that worries bystanders, the cohesion is palpable.

Valter is six years youthful than Johnny. Half-brothers, they grew up in separate properties in Brazil. They shared the identical father however not the identical mom.

Regardless of the age hole and placement hole, Valter all the time admired Johnny. On their off-days from college, Johnny would come over and the 2 would hang around.

“He was robust and quick,” Valter stated. “He was six years older than me. It was like a child to an adolescent. My brother is a much bigger teenager, and he was f*cking robust and quick. He can do quite a lot of stuff, like cool stuff. I noticed this, and I used to be like, ‘Wow, I wish to be like my brother. I wish to be stronger. I wish to know the right way to combat.’ He stated, ‘You’re fats. You want coaching.’ I began coaching exercises, like health club coaching. After this, I used to be like, ‘I wish to prepare on a regular basis very arduous to indicate my brother. Now, I’m extra robust. I wish to present outcomes for him.’

“… My father and my mom didn’t need me to observe my brother. Typically, I’d include my black eye, or I’d harm one thing, they usually don’t need me following my brother. Different instances, they’d push me for learning, not for coaching. However on a regular basis, my brother tried to encourage me, saying, ‘We want you coaching. This sport is for you since you’re very large.’”

Then the fateful beatdown in England transpired, however issues solely obtained higher from there for Valter, who joined his brother in travels alongside the world. They lived in England collectively, then Thailand. They skilled, ate, and frolicked collectively. It was precisely what Valter dreamt of, as he grew up.

Throughout their stint in Thailand, Valter met coach Gor Azizyan, one other instrumental affect within the trajectory of his profession. Valter later joined Azizyan’s GOR MMA in Moscow, the place he now trains alongside fellow UFC fighters Shara Magomedov and Bogdan Guskov.

The 2 Walkers formally separated their coaching, as Valter went to Russia and Johnny went again to Brazil, then Eire. Johnny burst into the worldwide highlight in late 2018 and captivated the MMA world with a sequence of nasty knockouts to start out his UFC tenure.

In the meantime, Valter turned skilled in 2020 – underneath an alias. Moderately than Valter Walker, he glided by Valter “Ignacio.” The Walker surname was recognized globally because of his brother’s fame, and Valter didn’t need the additional consideration and expectations.

“I used to be (feeling) on a regular basis large strain as a result of everybody know Johnny’s my large brother,” Valter stated. “There was large strain. Then, I most well-liked to cover into the shadows. However now it’s time for me to return out from the shadows. … Now it’s my time to make the identify larger. It’s time for my brother to return into my shadow. Now’s my time to take goal.”

Ought to Valter deal with enterprise as he plans Saturday on the UFC Apex, the brothers like the thought of his subsequent scrap being on the identical card as Johnny (21-8, 7-5 UFC), who’s scheduled to combat June 22 vs. Volkan Oezdemir (19-7 MMA, 7-6 UFC) in Saudi Arabia.

“I feel it’d be cool, no?” Johnny stated, with a look towards Valter. “Possibly we’ll combat in Brazil as soon as, our residence nation, or America. Anywhere on this planet.”

Valter concurred, “If I don’t harm nothing on this combat Saturday, I wish to combat in Saudi Arabia with my brother. It will be very attention-grabbing for me to combat on the identical card as my brother in Saudi Arabia. … I could make the primary combat on the preliminaries. I prepare every single day, bro. My camp is every single day. That is my work. I’m prepared. After this combat, if I can open the preliminaries in Saudi Arabia, I’ll be completely happy.”

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Battle Evening 240.