Preview: UFC on ABC 4 ‘Rozenstruik vs. Almeida’

Light Heavyweights

#5 LHW | Anthony Smith (36-17, 11-7 UFC) vs. #7 LHW | Johnny Walker (20-7, 6-4 UFC)

ODDS: Smith (-110), Walker (-110)

The UFC’s light heavyweight division is wide open at the moment, so it would be a good time for one of these two perennial fringe contenders to suddenly figure some things out. Walker’s career is in a bizarre place, but that seems fitting for a fighter as strange as the Brazilian. Walker came into the UFC as an absolute force of nature, a 6-foot-6 wildman with enough athleticism to seemingly win despite himself. There was not much holding Walker’s game together, but that unorthodox dynamism led him to knockout wins over Khalil Rountree, Justin Ledet and Misha Cirkunov in less than three minutes combined to kick off his UFC career. However, the good times did not last for Walker. He injured himself during his post-fight celebration after beating Cirkunov, got shellacked by Corey Anderson upon his return and was then outwrestled handily by Nikita Krylov. Walker managed to rebound with a chaotic win over Ryan Spann, but after another long injury layoff, he returned a changed fighter and possibly not for the better. In fights against Thiago Santos and Jamahal Hill, Walker looked to take advantage of his considerable size by fighting at range, but he did not really do much of anything with that idea from there. The Santos fight turned into a loss after 25 minutes of unwatchable inaction, and Hill had enough size of his own that he quickly found a knockout shot. While Walker has bounced back with two straight wins, there is not much of a sense that he has gotten past those issues. Ion Cutelaba and Paul Craig just looked to quickly swamp and outwrestle Walker, only to essentially take themselves out of the fight. Perhaps some clarity will be achieved against Smith.

Smith’s rise to light heavyweight contender status was a fun story. Quickly cut after the UFC absorbed Strikeforce in 2013, Smith worked his way back to the promotion after three years of hard work on the regional scene and settled in as a solid middleweight. Then “Lionheart” decided to move up to light heavyweight in 2018, hitting the division at just the right time to overwhelm some flawed but still relevant opposition, becoming the top contender to Jon Jones in less than a year. After losing to Jones, Smith has settled in as the gatekeeper to the light heavyweight elite while still remaining on the fringes of contender status himself. He will fight hard and pry open any hole he finds in his opponent’s game, but that works both ways, as Smith’s losses have seen his counterparts lean on one idea to send the fight spiraling out of control. The main worry is that Walker’s sheer size causes Smith to have more reservations than fighting behind his usual approach. Otherwise, Walker figures to be gun-shy enough for Smith to feel things out and eventually find an opening, particularly as another tall fighter who should be able to neutralize a lot of the Brazilian’s typical advantages. The pick is Smith via second-round stoppage.

Jump To »
Rozenstruik vs. Almeida
Smith vs. Walker
Garry vs. Rodriguez
Ulberg vs. Potieria
Morono vs. Means
The Prelims