Reviewed by BJJ Gyms · Updated 2026-07-27
Figures reflect UFC's official fight-by-fight preview and broadcast details for the July 25 card in Abu Dhabi.
Magomed Ankalaev spent more than three years unbeaten in the cage before that run ended against Alex Pereira, costing him the light heavyweight title he had only just won. Abu Dhabi is his chance to start rebuilding, though not against the opponent originally lined up. Khalil Rountree Jr. withdrew from the bout, and Bogdan Guskov stepped in on shortened notice.
A late-notice opponent swap always adds uncertainty, and Guskov arrives as the less established name of the two. Still, for a former champion trying to prove the loss to Pereira was an outlier rather than a pattern, almost any live body across the cage will do.
Buried further down the same card is a heavyweight bout between Valter Walker and Thomas Petersen that deserves more attention than a prelim slot usually gets. Walker enters on a run of four straight finishes, each one closing out inside the opening round, and UFC's own fight-by-fight preview credits every single one of them to a heel hook.
That is an unusual sentence to write about a heavyweight. Leglocks are far more associated with lighter, faster grapplers who can scramble into position before a bigger opponent stacks or postures out. Walker doing it repeatedly against UFC-level heavyweight competition is the kind of technical outlier a fight card built around a title rematch can easily bury.
Part of why Walker's streak stands out is that heel hooks barely exist in most gi competition. Traditional gi rulesets restrict or ban the position outright below black belt, largely because the gi's grip and friction change how safely a leg entanglement can be controlled. Strip the gi away, and the calculus shifts entirely, which is exactly why leglocks became a defining feature of modern no-gi grappling.
That shift is a big part of what built 10th Planet's reputation in the first place. Eddie Bravo's system leans hard into leg entanglements and back-take sequences designed for a no-gi ruleset, and gyms teaching that style spend real class time on the entries, control positions, and safety habits that make a finish like Walker's repeatable instead of a lucky accident.
The main card streams at noon ET on Paramount+, with prelims starting at 9 a.m. ET the same morning. Beyond the Ankalaev-Guskov headliner, the main card includes Steve Erceg against Ramazan Temirov, Islam Dulatov against Wellington Turman, promotional debutants Magomed Zaynukov and Damian Rzepecki, and Rizvan Kuniev against Tyrell Fortune. The preliminary card features Abubakar Vagaev against Saygid Izagakhmaev, along with Walker's bout against Thomas Petersen.
If Walker's leglock game gets you curious about how any of this actually works, no-gi fundamentals classes are built exactly for that curiosity. Use the gym finder here to find a program near you that teaches a no-gi curriculum and ask about trying a class before you commit to anything longer.
Beyond the Walker leglock storyline, the July 25 main card has plenty for a grappling-minded fan to track.
BJJ Gyms is an independent directory, not a gym. We feature 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu as our recommended no-gi system. Always take a free trial and vet any academy yourself before committing.
Walker is a UFC heavyweight on a run of four consecutive first-round finishes, all reportedly by heel hook, an unusual and technically demanding habit for a fighter in the sport's heaviest division.
It is a leglock that torques the heel and ankle to attack the knee, typically applied from a leg-entanglement position. It is fast, effective, and considered advanced enough that most gyms restrict it to experienced students.
Usually not right away. Most no-gi programs, including 10th Planet-style curricula, gate leglock training behind some baseline experience so students learn control and safety habits before drilling live.
Rountree withdrew from the bout, and Guskov stepped in as a short-notice replacement to keep the July 25 headliner intact.