Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Allen vs Curtis 2

A member of the Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) Class of ’19, Allen arrives at his second straight main event assignment on a six-fight winning streak, having registered five of those victories by way of rear-naked choke. The Louisiana native always profiled as a potential contender, and now seems to be putting all the pieces together, propelling himself up the divisional ranks as a result.

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Curtis landed in the UFC by raising his hand to fight Phil Hawes on 24-hour’s notice, and has been a fixture in the middleweight division ever since, amassing a 5-2 record with one no contest verdict. He started his 2024 campaign in January with a split decision win over Marc-Andre Barriault and looks to further his momentum with collecting another victory here.

These two met for the first time in December 2021, with Curtis registering a second-round stoppage win. It’s the last time Allen suffered a setback, and you can be sure that “All In” will be out to avenge that defeat on Saturday.

Other Main Card Fights:

Alexander Hernandez vs Damon Jackson

Featherweights aiming to get things moving in the right direction face off in the co-main event as Alexander Hernandez steps in with Damon Jackson.

Hernandez made the decision to test the 145-pound waters at the end of 2022 and has struggled to swim through his first two starts. After getting stopped by Billy Quarantillo in his first appearance and winning a short-notice lightweight assignment over Jim Miller, “The Great Ape” returned to featherweight in October and landed on the wrong side of the cards in a clash with veteran Bill Algeo.

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Entering 2023 on a four-fight winning streak capped by an emotional first-round stoppage win over Pat Sabatini, Jackson stumbled in 2024. He opened the year with a knockout loss to Dan Ige, and then faded in the back half of a battle with Quarantillo that went the distance, resulting in his second straight defeat.

Each of these men has a tendency to come out of the gates quickly and crisply, so expect fast-paced action to start, with a high probability that things end early.

Morgan Charriere vs Chepe Mariscal

French prospect Morgan Charriere returns for his sophomore appearance in the Octagon, where Chepe Mariscal will be happily waiting to meet him.

A standout in Europe prior to signing with the UFC, Charriere made an instant impression in his promotional debut, folding Manolo Zecchini over with a series of punishing kicks to the body in Paris. Sporting a 19-9-1 record forged against a strong slate of opposition, “The Last Pirate” profiles as one to watch in the featherweight ranks.

It took the 31-year-old Mariscal a little longer than anticipated to reach the UFC, but he’s hit the ground running, coming out of the gates with back-to-back wins. After out-lasting Trevor Peek in his short notice debut, the battle-tested veteran got the better of Jack Jenkins in his sophomore outing in Australia, earning the win after the Aussie suffered an arm injury.

Ignacio Bahamondes vs Christos Giagos

It’s a clash of lightweights looking to find consistency inside the UFC cage as Ignacio Bahamondes and Christos Giagos square off this weekend.

A graduate from Season 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series, Bahamondes has made five appearances inside the Octagon thus far, bookending his three victories with setbacks on either side. Last time out, the towering lightweight dropped a unanimous decision to Ludovit Klein, falling to 14-5 for his career as a result.

Now 10 fights into his second stint on the UFC roster, Giagos returns to Las Vegas having gone 5-5 during that stretch and looking to rebound from his loss to Daniel Zellhuber at Noche UFC in September. “The Spartan” has faced a string of talented opponents and has an overall edge in experience, so it will be interesting to see if he can lean on those things — and having faced a long, rangy lightweight last time out — when he steps win with Bahamondes in this one.

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It’s difficult to build momentum in the UFC and doubly challenging in a division like lightweight. As such, expect both Bahamondes and Giagos to be locked in from the outset as they aim to avoid consecutive defeats and being forced to take a step back in the treacherous 155-pound weight class.

Valter Walker vs Lukasz Brzeski

Newcomer Valter Walker and DWCS grad Lukasz Brzeski clash in this main card heavyweight fixture.

The younger brother of ranked light heavyweight Johnny Walker, the 26-year-old “Clean Monster” arrives in the UFC with a pristine 11-0 record, with each of his last four victories coming inside the distance. He’s an even more imposing figure than his older brother and it will be fascinating to see if he can make the same kind of immediate impact his sibling did when he first touched down in the Octagon several years ago.

Brzeski gets another chance to get himself into the win column in the UFC, hoping to reverse a run of results that have admittedly gotten progressively worse each time out. After losing by split decision and then unanimous decision in his first two outings, the Polish heavyweight was knocked out by Waldo Cortes Acosta in his most recent appearance, falling to 8-4-1 with one no contest overall for his career.

Trevor Peek vs Charlie Campbell

The main card festivities get underway in the lightweight division with Trevor Peek and Charlie Campbell facing off in a matchup of DWCS alums.

Now 39 years old, McGee returns looking to snap a two-fight skid after getting stopped in the first round by Jeremiah Wells and Matt Brown in consecutive outings. Morono went 1-1 in a pair of 2023 starts, opening with a submission win over Tim Means before dropping a decision to Joaquin Buckley in October.

Norma Dumont vs Germaine de Randamie

Brazilian Norma Dumont welcomes former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie back to the Octagon for the first time in more than three years on Saturday evening.

The 33-year-old Dumont enters on a three-fight winning streak and having won six of seven since dropping her promotional debut at featherweight, with her lone setback during that stretch coming by way of split decision. The returning “Iron Lady” submitted former champ Julianna Peña in her last appearance in October 2020, and also has a win over current titleholder Raquel Pennington on her resume, which makes de Randamie a serious person of interest in the 135-pound weight class for the moment.

Piera Rodriguez vs Cynthia Calvillo

It should be non-stop action in this strawweight scrap between Piera Rodriguez and Cynthia Calvillo.

Budka got the call to the Octagon after a grueling unanimous decision win over Chad Hanekom, while the 35-year-old Almeida caught UFC CEO Dana White’s eye with his effort against Lucas Fernando and previous kickboxing win over current light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira.

Nora Cornolle vs Melissa Mullins

Nora Cornolle and Melissa Mullins meet in his bantamweight battle of sophomores aiming to build off successful debuts.

Cornolle extended her winning streak to seven with a unanimous decision win over Joselyne Edwards in September, much to the delight of the partisan crowd in Paris. Mullins maintained her unbeaten record through her debut, getting the better of Irina Alekseeva on the scorecards in October to move to 6-0 overall.