Preview: UFC Fight Night 240 ‘Allen vs. Curtis 2’

Heavyweights

Valter Walker (11-0) vs. Lukasz Brzeski (8-4-1, 1 NC)

Odds: Walker (-340), Brzeski (+270)

The UFC's always on the hunt for new heavyweights, and Walker is the latest entrant to try and make an impact. The half-brother of light heavyweight contender Johnny, Walker doesn't have many similarities with his kin outside of his impressive size for the division; the younger Walker doesn't have much in terms of explosive athleticism, instead fighting behind a slow-paced striking game that leads into his wrestling. It's often sloppy and Walker tends to tire out quickly, but the Brazilian does a solid job of fighting through that exhaustion in the hopes of staying ahead of his opposition - and while it hasn't been pretty, so far so good. Brzeski makes for a solid first opponent to see if Walker's game works moving up a level in competition, since "The Bull" has talent but has struggled to turn his skills into positive results. Brzeski tries to get by on pace and volume, and had some rough luck in his UFC debut against Martin Buday; Brzeski outpaced Buday handily over three rounds, only to see the judges reward Buday's forward pressure over Brzeski consistently landing more effective offense. And the Pole hasn't been able to rebound from that result, running into issues concerning his lack of defense and durability; Karl Williams out-wrestled him handily, while Waldo Cortes-Acosta simply knocked Brzeski out in short order. This figures to get disgusting in short order, but given that Brzeski isn't much of a finisher, the read is that Walker can keep surviving and finding takedowns to grind out an ugly win; the pick is Walker via decision.

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Allen vs. Curtis
Hernandez vs. Jackson
Charriere vs. Mariscal
Bahamondes vs. Giagos
Walker vs. Brzeski
Peek vs. Campbell
The Prelims