Spann (22-11) had spent most of his UFC run at 205 pounds, but decided to jump up a division earlier this year. His debut didn’t go as planned losing against Waldo Cortes-Acosta. The former light heavyweight certainly hoped to right the ship in New Orleans.

Brzeski (9-6-1) has not had the best career in the UFC this far. In 6 UFC bouts he’s gone 1-5 and was definitely on the chopping block against Spann at UFC 318.

Round 1 Spann came out on a mission landing a big right hand on Brzeski and putting maddening pressure on his opponent. Brzeski throw hands up top, Spann ducked, and scored a takedown.

Spann owned the positions taking mount multiple times and going for submissions. Finally Brzeski couldn’t fight the positions any longer and threw a hail mary to get to his feet.

Unfortunately for him Spann was ready with the guillotine, he secured it, tightened it and ended Brzeski’s night early.

Heavyweight looks good on Ryan Spann.

Official Results: Ryan Spann def. Lukasz Brzeski via R1 SUB (Guillotine), 2:47

The post Ryan Spann Dominates, Submits Brzeski In First Round appeared first on Cageside Press.

Nzechukwu, a former light heavyweight, had moved up for his last fight, and was looking to find continued success against Poland’s Brzeski.

Brzeski began the fight on the offensive, targeting the legs and staying cautiously on the edge of Nzechukwu’s pawing jab. A few seconds in Lukasz clashed in with a clubbing shot before targeting the body. Kennedy looked to control the wrist of his opponent but stayed reserved. Lukasz’s boxing met its mark just as often as it met the high guard of his opponent.  Nzechukwu landed to the body with teeps before partially landing high. Kennedy slipped from out of the way of punch and landed a thudding stepping knee. Brzeski recoiled but looked largely unaffected throwing back single punches.

With a minute left in the round Nzechukwu began to find his rhythm cracking his opponent with an audible hook. In the final seconds of the round, Nzechukwu landed a short counter hook as Brzeski looked for a blind shot. Moments later the fight was over. The stylish highlight reel finish sported a defensively-sound Kennedy making his new weight class look easy and showing off a real diverse range of kickboxing weapons.

In the post-fight interview Kennedy spoke about what made him move up after his 11-fight UFC stint at 205lbs. “The doctor said it was compromising my health, and it would be bad in the long run.”

The understated 32-year-old calmly remarked before leaving the octagon, “It’s just progress from here” adding “I want to stay busy next year.”

Official Result:  Kennedy Nzechukwu def Lukasz Brzeski by TKO, Round 1, 4:51

The post Kennedy Nzechukwu Finishes Lukasz Brzeski to Kick Off UFC 310 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Already hit by the loss of its planned main event between Balal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov (after welterweight champ Muhammad withdrew), and Nick Diaz dropping off the docket, a pair of other fights have also been impacted.

Per an announcement on Wednesday by UFC officials, Martin Buday has been removed from the event, with his heavyweight bout against Rizvan Kuniev cancelled as a result. One other heavyweight fight fared slightly between: Although Tallison Teixeira has been yanked from his fight with Lukasz Brzeski, Kennedy Nzechukwu is stepping up on short notice to keep Brzeski on the card.

No reason was given for either fighter being removed from the event, which marks the UFC’s final Pay-Per-View of 2024.

Nzechukwu (13-5) is coming off a TKO victory over Chris Barnett, who stepped in on short notice at UFC 308 on October 26. That will make Nzechukwu’s appearance at UFC 310 a rather quick turnaround. It does give the “African Savage” a chance to finish 2024 strong, and build off the momentum he picked up debuting as a heavyweight for the promotion.

Prior to his UFC run, Nzechukwu competed as a heavyweight in a handful of bouts.

Brzeski (9-5-1, 1NC) is 1-4 in the UFC and coming off a loss against Mick Parkin, making UFC 310 a critical night, and almost certainly a must-win situation.

UFC 310 takes place on December 7, 2024 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja headlines, taking on promotional newcomer and former RIZIN champ Kai Asakura. Shavkat Rakhmonov, who was to headline in a bid for welterweight gold, stays on the card in the co-headliner, taking on Ian Machado Garry.

• Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Kai Asakura – for the UFC flyweight championship
• Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry – welterweight number one contender’s fight
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Bryce Mitchell vs. Kron Gracie
• Nate Landwehr vs. Choi Doo-ho
• Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
• Vicente Luque vs. Themba Gorimbo
• Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
• Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders
• Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
• Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
• Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
• Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Lukasz Brzeski

The post UFC 310 Changes See One Bout Cancelled, One Fighter Replaced appeared first on Cageside Press.

Parkin is a local boy, England’s other heavyweight hopeful after Tom Aspinall. Though he came into the fight without the finishing prowess of the heavyweight champ, he had a 9-0 record including three wins in the UFC. Giving him a slow build seemed to be the play as his opponent, Brzeski from Poland, was only 1-3 in the promotion.

Early on Brzeski looked to land power shots on an oncoming Parkin, with some success. However, Parkin kept coming forward with constant aggression and a more economical fighting style. His improved accuracy made up for his lack of power, rocking the defensively lax Polack on multiple occasions. The third time was the worst, and Łukasz could not recover quickly. On Bambi-legs, he stumbled backwards from the 1-2 that hurt him and ate a flurry which put him down and out.

With his first finish in the UFC in front of his home crowd, Mick Parkin proved that his undefeated record is not just a number. In his post-fight interview, with his thick Northern accent, he riled up the crowd more by talking about how amazing it was to fight and win in front of this crowd.

Official Result: Mick Parkin def. Łukasz Brzeski by Knockout (punches) Round 1, 3:23

The post UFC 304: First UFC KO Comes for Mick Parkin at Home Against Łukasz Brzeski appeared first on Cageside Press.

UFC officials announced the heavyweight booking on social media on Wednesday. UFC 304 takes place at the Co-Op Arena in Manchester, and marks the promotion’s first visit to the English city since 2016, when Michael Bisping defended his middleweight title in a rematch with Dan Henderson.

Parkin (9-0) is a 2022 Dana White’s Contender Series winner who has won his first three fights inside of the octagon. The 28-year old holds wins over Jamal Pogues, Caio Machado, and most recently defeated The Ultimate Fighter 30 winner Mohammed Usman.

Brzeski (9-4-1, 1NC) is another Contender Series alum, although his win on the show was overturned to a No Contest after the Polish heavyweight tested positive for clomiphene. Brzeski then lost his first three fights under the UFC banner before turning things around and saving his job against Valter Walker last month.

UFC 304 on July 27, 2024 is headlined by a welterweight title fight, with Leon Edwards taking on Belal Muhammad. An interim heavyweight title fight serves as co-headliner, with Tom Aspinall defending against Curtis Blaydes. The following match-ups have been reported for the Manchester card to date:

• Leon Edwards (c) vs. Belal Muhammad – for the UFC welterweight championship
• Tom Aspinall (ic) vs. Curtis Blaydes – for the UFC interim heavyweight championship
• Bobby Green vs. Paddy Pimblett
• Arnold Allen vs. Giga Chikadze
• Muhammad Mokaev vs. Manel Kape
• Molly McCann vs. Bruna Brasil
• Caolán Loughran vs. Ramon Taveras
• Shauna Bannon vs. Ravena Oliveira
• Nathaniel Wood vs. Daniel Pineda
• Preston Parsons vs. Oban Elliott
• Mick Parkin vs. Lukasz Brzeski

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A lot of eyes would be on the Brazilian, brother of UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker.

Lukasz Brzeski put Valter on the fence early with pressure and with a smattering of kicks landed to the legs. More kicks were thrown from Brzeski. Valter was popping his jab out, but he looked a little overwhelmed to that point. Not for long, however, as he lnaded a big right hand and shot then scored the takedown.

Valter Walker struggled to get his opponent flattened out, however. Lukasz would finally free himself; on the feet, he led with an uppercut, and later hit home with a solid right hand! Valter was covering up, then shot for tha takedown and looked for mount— but the clock was not his friend.

The opening of round two between Valter Walker and Lukasz Brzeski saw both men trade calf kicks. Brzeski peppered his attacks with his uppercut, and winged an overhand right. Walker landed a takedown, and again worked towards mount. He could not keep Brzeski down — a key problem for the Brazilian. And on the feet, it was more big blows landed for Brzeski.

Heading into the third, Walker appeared to be flagging. But when Brzeski went on the attack, Walker shot and landed a double-leg takedown. He was close to moving to mount, and eventually did get there. Time, however, was becoming a factor. Valter fired an elbow. But Brzeski swept! He moved into side control, and at that point, Walker was spent. He wound up belly down, then somehow managed to escape out the back just ahead of the horn.

Official Result: Lukasz Brzeski def. Valter Walker by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

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Walker was originally booked to debut last September against Jake Collier, but was forced to withdraw from that bout.

Valter “The Clean Monster” Walker
Standing at six-foot-six
Fighting at 261 lbs (heavyweight)
26-years-old
Fighting out of Rio das Ostras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Training out of GOR MMA
A pro record of 11-0
6 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission

How Walker will fare in the UFC:

When you see a Brazilian heavyweight at six-foot-six with an 11-0 record that’s something to get excited about. The familiar last name is because he’s the younger (but bigger) brother of UFC’s Johnny Walker. Although Valter Walker is from Brazil he lives and trains in Russia and it’s where he’s basically fought his entire career. His last fight was his US debut and he beat former UFC fighter Alex Nicholson for the Titan FC title.

When you get into watching Walter there isn’t a lot to like. Being as big as he is he doesn’t have that heavyweight power. Actually, he has no striking at all. What he does the best on the feet is throw knees in the clinch. That’s overshadowed by everything else though. Walter is flat-footed, shows zero technique, and has no defense. He just plods forward throwing crazy with no set-ups behind anything he does.

Walker wants to get the fight to the mat where he’s most comfortable. For a big guy you’d expect Walker to be throwing guys around. He actually gets takedowns the natural way getting in on the legs and dumping the guys to the mat. Although that is good and all, he’s shown no ability to chain wrestle or disguise his shots. Even when he does get the takedown Walker doesn’t do much. Walker just likes to use his weight and land soft shots. He never improves his position unless his opponent just gives it to him. Walker lacks jiu-jitsu big time and his ground and pound game should be much better. His striking probably isn’t going to improve but if he just learned jiu-jitsu he’d be a big threat.

Walker is going to struggle but at 26 he’s bound to have time to progress. He can beat the bottom of the division but there aren’t too many I feel confident about him beating beyond that.

How Walker matches up with Brzeski:

Valter Walker is getting one of these bottom heavyweights in Brzeski. Brzeski has had a terrible UFC run as he’s 0-3. This is a fight between two very flawed heavyweights. With Walker being a wrestler, keep in mind that Brzeski does struggle with takedown defense. He does at least get back to his feet however.

On the feet as flawed as Brzeski is he does throw a lot of volume. His cardio is poor and that will probably hurt him as this fight goes on. I’m slightly leaning towards Walker. I think his chin enough is good enough to weather an early storm. He should be able to get takedowns especially as the fight goes longer.

The post Welcome to the UFC: Valter Walker appeared first on Cageside Press.

Originally slated to compete against Jake Collier back in September, Walker (11-0) will instead debut as part of the UFC’s April 6, 2024 Fight Night event, taking on Lukasz Brzeski (8-4-1, 1NC).

Both fighters confirmed the news following an initial announcement by Walker’s coach, Gor Azizyan, on social media.

The heavyweight bout will find Valter Walker looking to maintain his perfect record, having most recently defeated UFC veteran Alex Nicholson under the Titan FC banner back in June — a fight that snagged Walker the promotion’s heavyweight championship.

Lukasz Brzeski joined the UFC by way of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, though his win over Dylan Potter was overturned after the Polish fighter tested positive for clomiphene. He made his way into the UFC nonetheless, but has gone 0-3 through three fights, dropping decisions to Martin Buday and Karl Williams before being finished by Waldo Cortes-Acosta at a Fight Night show back in August.

That puts Brzeski in must-win territory here, even in a division as thin as heavyweight.

The UFC’s April 6, 2024 Fight Night event does not yet have a venue, location, or broadcast plan officially announced. The show comes just a week prior to the expectedly massive UFC 300. Only two fights have been reported for the event thus far:

• Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen
• Valter Walker vs. Lukasz Brzeski

The post Valter Walker Rebooks UFC Debut, Gets Lukasz Brzeski on April 6 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Cortes-Acosta was looking to bounce back from the first loss of his pro career, while Brzeski hoped to snap a two-fight skid.

The scouting report the past couple of fights, when it came to Cortes-Acosta, was to fire leg kicks, and Brzeski had clearly read it. Cortes-Acosta fired back his right hand, and went to the body as part of a combo. But Brzeski continued to hit the leg, with considerable success. By the midway mark, Cortes-Acosta was showing damage to that leg. As it turned out, however, it didn’t matter.

Cortes-Acosta rocked Brzeski off a caught kick, but it was another right hand that left him staggering, back turned. Cortes-Acosta followed up with a couple of left hands by the ear, with Brzeski face-planting as a result! A nasty-looking KO for “Salsa Boy” and arguably his most violent to date.

WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED?!?!?!?

Waldo Cortes Acosta, ladies and gents!!!!! 😱 #UFCSingapore pic.twitter.com/bCB09LfdiE

— UFC (@ufc) August 26, 2023

“That’s a fastball, it landed,” the former pitcher said following the victory.

Official Result: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Lukasz Brzeski by KO (punches), Round 1, 3:01

The post UFC Singapore: Waldo Cortes-Acosta Lands Fastball, KOs Lukasz Brzeski appeared first on Cageside Press.

Brzeski, himself a Dana White’s Contender Series alum, had dropped his UFC debut, losing a split decision against Martin Buday last year.

It was Williams in the driver’s seat across all three rounds in Saturday’s match-up.

When the fight started Williams threw a heavy combination. Nothing bothered Brzeski but soon after Williams got a takedown. Not long though as Brzeski bounced right back up. Williams kept scoring brief takedowns but Brzeski was using the cage to keep getting back to his feet. Eventually, Brzeski was able to escape the clinch and disengage. Brzeski did land an uppercut that forced Williams to go in for another takedown. Brzeski defended and ended the round at range.

In round two Williams went off with huge rights and lefts. He landed on about four big clubbing punches dropping Brzeski. Brzeski was getting back up and Williams grabbed him by the waist and slammed him to the mat. Williams was actively landing ground and pound but Brzeski was moving well and eventually worked back to his feet. Williams was visibly tired putting his hands on his knees. Despite that, he worked through it and exploded in with a takedown. Brzeski was back up and then back down then back up. Brzeski did end the round on top due to Williams slipping to his back after a missed head kick.

In the final round Brzeski needed a finish, and as such he was coming forward throwing a lot of output. He was too aggressive however, and Williams tied him up and got the takedown. Williams did a good job of isolating a single leg and sweeping out the planted leg. Off that takedown, Williams was landing a lot of short punches staying very busy. It was the most top position Karl Williams had as Brzeski was never able to get back to his feet.

Official Result: Karl Williams def. Lukasz Brzeski by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

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