The heavyweight fight between Valter Walker and Junior Tafa ended up in more drama than even the fans had anticipated at UFC 305. Walker won the bout by submission; however, things escalated to the point where security had to intervene to prevent the fighters from engaging in further violence. Why this ordeal? Well, Walker won the bout by way of submission but it was a bit controversial.

Walker finished Tafa by scoring a takedown and controlling the footwork of his opponent on the ground at UFC 305. After taking control of his footwork, Walker’s coach shouted at him to look for a submission with just a mere 20 seconds remaining in the inaugural round. The Brazilian immediately clinched Tafa’s foot and rolled over to have a heel hook. As the fighter moved for the nasty submission, Tafa yelled in pain and this irked the referee Steve Percival to stop the fight by way of a ‘Verbal Tap-Out.’ Now let us understand what that rule indicates.

What is a Verbal Tap-out that happened at UFC 305?

The MMA unified rule books are like a bible for the fighters and especially referees, who oversee the match. Well, even if Tafa was not ready to leave the match, his scream was a call for help for the referee to stop the match as per the rule books.  Well, the rulebooks of MMA state that when a fighter physically uses his hands or indicates that he/she no longer wishes to continue.

When͏ a fighter͏ verba͏lly a͏nn͏o͏u͏n͏c͏es to͏ the re͏fe͏r͏͏ee that the͏y͏ do not͏ ͏wish t͏o ͏c͏onti͏nue or make͏s͏͏ aud͏ible ͏noises su͏͏ch͏ ͏as a͏ s͏c͏ream ͏indicat͏͏ing p͏ain or d͏i͏s͏co͏mf͏ort,͏ it cons͏ti͏tutes͏ a͏ ͏verba͏l ta͏p-out. The victor͏y w͏a͏͏s sweet͏ for ͏Walke͏r͏ at UFC 305, ͏a͏s ͏͏͏he͏ di͏d͏n’t͏ have to put͏ muc͏h ͏e͏ff͏͏ort i͏nto͏͏ t͏he submi͏ss͏͏ion. Wal͏ker walk͏ed awa͏y ͏i͏n ͏ce͏l͏ebratio͏n. Howe͏v͏er,͏ ͏͏for T͏af͏͏a,͏ t͏͏his͏ was an͏ ͏un͏fa͏i͏r͏͏ ju͏dg͏m͏ent.͏ Ju͏nior Tafa app͏roa͏ched W͏a͏lk͏er ͏a͏n͏d de͏li͏v͏er͏ed͏ ͏a ͏l͏ight ͏slap ͏a͏cr͏o͏ss ͏his͏ face t͏o͏ end͏ t͏he match.

The fighters were still angry at each other after the match and the security had to intervene to make sure that they didn’t indulge in violence. In addition to throwing a tantrum at the administration, Junior Tafa threw a middle finger at Walker. Well, this is not the first time that a fight had to be stopped due to a Verbal Tap out.

The time when the entire MMA community was shocked by Verbal Tap-Out

Back in 2019, a fight between England’s Danny Roberts and Brazil’s Claudio Silva was a very controversial moment. During the final round, Silva got hold of Roberts in a tight armbar position. As Silva went for a submission, Roberts screamed (at least it was audible to the referee), moments later, the fight had to be stopped as the referee intervened to award the victory to Claudio Silva.

This caused an uproar in the MMA community as people like Dan Hardy and John Kavanagh made comments on the situation. The situation became so harsh that Former referee and now on-air Bellator personality ‘Big’ John McCarthy took the matter in his own hands to clear the confusion, “A scream of pain is to be considered a verbal tap by the referee. But, it must be a scream. I use to tell fighters all the time I will let you grunt, groan or summon the gods of stupid strength with a Arrrggghhhh, but don’t scream out like you just turned into an 8 year old, wrote on his X handle.

Regardless, whats your take from the UFC 305 match? State your thoughts in the comments below.