Walter Walker He worked as an announcer for Hype FC. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram/UFC
Even without taking action, Walter Walker stole the show and starred in a moment that was, to say the least, unusual at Hype FC, held last Wednesday (11). During the bare-knuckle boxing match between Maurício Boni and former UFC fighter Leleco Guimarães, the 'foot hunter'The announcer, who was acting as the event's announcer, interrupted the fight midway through the first round and decided to cancel the bout, in an episode that caught the athletes by surprise.
In an exclusive interview with SUPER LUTAS, Maurício Boni explained that he entered the fight highly motivated, but adopted a more cautious initial strategy, seeking to study his opponent and pace himself in the early stages of the fight. However, according to the heavyweight, Leleco Guimarães's approach quickly changed the course of the fight.
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“I was really excited to fight. But when the fight started, my strategy was to start a little slower, marking him a bit, wearing him down. But my opponent started slapping me, he started running away from the fight, and I saw that he didn't want to fight. Several times I told him: 'let's fight, let's fight'. Unfortunately, I have this problem where I can't beat someone who clearly doesn't want to fight,” said Maurício.
Boni also assessed that the best decision would have been to allow the first round to end before any intervention. In the fighter's view, the referee could have used the break to guide the corners and give instructions to the athletes. During the fight, he reports that he was mentally conflicted, as he didn't want to take advantage of the situation to strike an opponent who, according to him, showed no intention of advancing.
“I think what should have happened was the referee letting the first round finish, passing the instructions to the corners, for his corner to give him some guidance, for my corner to give me some guidance, because in the middle of the fight I kept thinking, 'Damn, the guy doesn't want to, I'm not going to do that, which I think is dishonorable.' If he didn't want to, fine. But I can't have that kind of malice from the start, of the guy lowering his guard, the guy not wanting to come at me, and me just going for it,” Boni continued.
Despite his cautious stance, Boni highlighted that he landed some real punches during the short duration of the fight. The athlete stated that he managed to cause swelling in both of Guimarães' eyes and opened a cut on his opponent's cheek with his very first punch. Even so, upon realizing that his rival continued to avoid confrontation, he tried to encourage him to exchange blows, even lowering his guard and allowing himself to be hit.
“I put my hands on him, and it wasn't fake, I hit him. Both of his eyes swelled up, I opened the cut on his cheek with the very first punch, so it wasn't fake on my part, but when he stopped wanting to fight, I wanted to call him over, so much so that I lowered my guard, let him punch me in the face, I said: 'Come on, let's fight, come on, for God's sake, I don't want to go through this', and even then, unfortunately, he didn't want to,” the heavyweight explained.
Finally, the TFT fighter stated that he didn't understand the reasons that led his opponent to act that way. Boni said he didn't know if Guimarães was facing some personal problem or if he simply didn't want to fight, but he reinforced that he entered the event fully prepared to compete. The heavyweight also apologized to the fans who had built up expectations for the fight and admitted to being deeply frustrated with how the situation ended.
“I don’t know his motive, if he was going through some problem, if he didn’t want to, I didn’t understand why he did this, but from my side, I wanted to, I’m here wanting to fight. I apologize to everyone who followed along, I know a lot of people had high expectations… A dream, man, I feel like burying myself in a hole, and I’m really devastated, but unfortunately, I have to think about the next one and see what happens. God knows there was no malice in my heart, whether it was good or bad, positive or negative, I did what I thought I should have done,” concluded the TFT athlete.
Check out the moment when Valter Walker interrupted the match on Hype FC.
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
WALT WALKER He's gone crazy!
He told the guys to start fighting or he would cancel the fight.
And it really did cancel. pic.twitter.com/AQtgcXQZcm— JESUIN 🇹🇭🇧🇷 (@jebosio22) March 12, 2026
This doesn't exist here, with all due respect. What madness, man. I don't think it'll be shown on Combate anymore... pic.twitter.com/0RxCfFqnUC
— Luiz Brownie (@luiz_ff92) March 12, 2026
Watch Mauricio Boni's interview on SUPER LUTAS.
— MMA Video (@Gabriel75963578) March 12, 2026
Read More about: Hype FC, Leonardo 'Leleco' Guimarães, Mauricio Boni, Walter Walker
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