Valter Walker didn’t dance around what the UFC and Dana White want from their fighters. The 28-year-old heavyweight, who has finished four straight opponents with heel hooks inside the Octagon, was speaking to Home of Fight when the conversation turned to the promotion’s bonus culture and the pressure to entertain. The interviewer summed up the fight game as “kill or be killed.” Walker didn’t soften that framing.

“We are paid for that bro,” he told Jake Noecker. “I think the UFC give you extra money because they wanna see somebody die. They don’t wanna see somebody boring fights to the points, to the decision. They wanna somebody kill or somebody die, bro.”

It’s a serious assertion. And it lands at a time when the UFC has just doubled its traditional fight night bonuses from $50,000 to $100,000, while also adding a $25,000 bonus for every finish that doesn’t earn one of the top awards. Dana White rolled out the new structure after signing a seven-year, $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount. On the surface, it looks like more money is flowing to fighters. In practice, Walker sees it differently.

The Brazilian’s career arc adds context to why he might feel that way. He’s coming off a win at UFC 321, where he fractured his fibula from a calf kick, an injury he admits still isn’t fully healed heading into his next fight against Marcin Tybura on March 28 at UFC Seattle.

The UFC has always defended its bonus system as an incentive for performance, not recklessness. The company decides the awards internally and has occasionally increased them for milestone events like UFC 300. From a business standpoint, finishes sell. Knockouts and submissions go viral on social media in ways split decisions rarely do. The numbers back that up: Valter Walker’s four straight submissions in 14 months have moved him into the spotlight faster than a string of cautious decisions ever would.

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Still, the heavyweight’s claim raises an uncomfortable question. When bonuses are tied to finishes, and finishes often come through heavy damage, how do you balance entertainment with safety? Fighters already take home a show purse, a win bonus, and potentially performance money. The extra $25,000 for a finish that doesn’t win “Performance of the Night” might look like an opportunity to some. To Walker, it looks like an added incentive to push past caution.

The UFC and Dana White aren’t publicly signaling any shift in philosophy. The new structure is framed as a rewarding action, giving more athletes a shot at extra cash. But Valter Walker’s words cut through that framing. He’s saying the message he hears is simple: violence pays more. And Walker is leaning into that persona, taking his aggressive mindset from the system to his own family by calling for a clash with his brother inside the Octagon.

Valter Walker takes aim at brother Johnny to prove the “real Walker”

Walker didn’t stop at criticizing the system. He turned the spotlight inward, straight at his own family. Fresh off a quick submission win over Zion Clark at Karate Combat 59 in Miami, the Brazilian heavyweight grabbed the mic and called out his older brother and fellow UFC fighter, Johnny Walker.

“I’m really upset because I called my brother to come here with me and he didn’t come,” Walker said. “Look, Johnny isn’t here. I want to crush him! I have a kind of strange relationship with my brother now. I want to finish him off. I want to break his foot. I want to bring Johnny here and show him who the real Walker is…”

Walker is building a reputation as a submission specialist in a division that doesn’t see many of them. Heavyweight historically favors knockouts. The fact that he’s tapping people instead of starching them already makes him different. Now he wants a family showdown. He even joked that Johnny would need permission from his “wife” to accept the fight. There’s humor in it, sure, but there’s also intent. Karate Combat president Asim Zaidi tried to book the brothers for an upcoming event, but Valter Walker seems set on one stage only: the UFC.

When a fighter openly says he believes extra money is tied to seeing someone “kill or somebody die,” that’s not a small accusation. Valter Walker’s words echo a sentiment that has floated around combat sports for years: excitement pays. But maybe that’s just the nature of prizefighting.