Valter Walker has spoken out about Shara Magomedov’s hair-pulling tactics after watching the middleweight contender use the move against Michel Pereira in their co-main event at UFC Baku.
Magomedov pulled Pereira’s hair during the bout, leading referee Herb Dean to issue a warning for recurring hair-pulling but no penalty. Magomedov went on to defeat Pereira by unanimous decision, improving his record to 17-1, while Walker sits at 15-1.
Walker said he experienced similar tactics firsthand when he previously trained with Magomedov under Gor Azizyan at GOR MMA in Moscow. “When I had long hair, every time I trained with Shara, he would pull my hair and knee me in the face while holding onto it,” Walker said. “I’d tell Coach Gor and he’d applaud Shara — mostly because Shara is his favorite son. I think that’s really wrong, and it was one of the reasons I shaved my head.”
Walker also offered his own interpretation of Magomedov’s approach. “I think everyone has a fetish,” he said. “For example, in my case, I have ugly feet, so I end up wanting to break other people’s feet. Shara is missing an eye; I think he sticks his fingers in people’s eyes because he wants to blind them. There’s a psychological reason for it, but I’m not a psychologist, so I couldn’t explain exactly what it is.”
Walker is currently in camp in Moscow for an upcoming fight against Thomas Petersen when the promotion returns to Abu Dhabi on July 25 on Fight Island.
