Brendan Allen wants nothing but the best his next time out.
The top UFC Middleweight fought down the ladder, defending his #6 ranking against the oncoming Chris Curtis in the main event of UFC Vegas 90 on Saturday. After five rounds of action, it was Allen who got the split decision nod and now he trails only the champ Dricus Du Plessis for the second-longest winning streak at middleweight (6).
Brendan Allen Calls His Shot for Gold After UFC Vegas 90 Win
Seven-straight wins altogether for the American, Allen believes he’s done enough to potentially fight for gold against Du Plessis or a title eliminator with former champ Sean Strickland to get there.
“I want the champion, of course,” Allen said on the UFC Vegas 90 post-fight show. “I personally feel, again, this is above my pay grade, but I personally feel Sean should have the title shot next over someone like Izzy, which that’s the word on the street. I think Izzy’s coming off a loss. I think Sean was the champion. He definitely took the belt from the champion, and I don’t feel that ‘Dickus’ [Dricus] has took the belt from him. I don’t think he took the belt from Sean. I think Sean won that fight. But again, above my pay grade.
“So, if I go out there, I beat Sean— there’s no one that comes over me for a title shot, and that’s ultimately what I want. I was trying to go for 2024, but again, the division’s all over the place. And again, that’s above my pay grade. I’m just a fighter. I go out here, I fight. I took this fight on short notice again, the bosses wanted this fight. There was no one else that could reinvent this card. At the end of the day, let’s be honest, me and Chris saved the card and I went out there and I beat the tough guy for 25 minutes and it delivered big time.”
A teammate of Chris Curtis, Sean Strickland also holds a previous win over Allen. In 2020, Strickland blasted a 24 year-old Allen with punches, finishing the fight in two rounds.
Four years later, Allen, 28, reckons Strickland poses less of a threat to him than Curtis, who he narrowly beat at UFC Vegas 90.
“I think Chris is actually a harder opponent for me stylistically, just because of his size. I think he’s technically good,” Allen said of Strickland. “I think Sean has a really good jab. But my dad was a boxer. I worked very well with boxers, so his style kind of fits more with me. His size. We ain’t little no more. I’m not a young buck. I know I had a lot of experience going into that fight with Sean, but things are different now. Yeah, it’s a different time. It’s a different year. It’s a different pace. It’s a different me and Sean’s a good fighter.
“Again, he’s just like Chris, but it’s just my time right now. I really feel it’s my time. I know for a fact I can beat the champion. I’ll put it like this. If it wasn’t for followers, I guarantee you I’d already have a title shot. I don’t have the following for whatever the case may be. But that’s not my job to go out and get followers. I come out here, I fight, I come to win, I come to finish. I’m trying to finish ’em every time no matter who I fight. So if it was based on skills, I’d be the champion undoubtedly. But you know, it is about who could put asses in the seats. It is a business. I do understand that. I think that’s the only reason I don’t have the title shot.”
On the topic of championship caliber, ‘All In’ isn’t all that convinced with the champion Dricus Du Plessis is on his level. Allen would downplay the South African fighter’s road to the title that saw him win six-straight fights in the Octagon before his title fight with Sean Strickland came around at UFC 297.
“It’s a statistic that ‘Dickus’ does have all, all these wins, but there’s not one fight that, except for Robert, that he was winning every single moment of that he was losing every single fight that he was fighting. Then, he comes back and he catches guys. He can dig deep. Robert’s the only guy he was beating clearly the whole fight.
“I go out there and I deliver, I finish. I don’t do much back-and-forth again. Me and Chris had a fight tonight, but look at everyone since. I don’t think it was a split [decision]. I don’t think, I haven’t talked to anyone that’s a split unless they’re lying to me… So, I’ve seen [Du Plessis] train. I know guys that have trained with him. The guy can’t hold my jockstrap at the end of the day, when I come and I show up stylistically, that guy knows he can’t touch me. He can’t hang with me, and I’m coming to prove it. I just need him to say my name. At the end of the day, he’s the champion. It is his decision to an extent, but I’ll f*** him up.”
Not as big of a name as a Israel Adesanya or a Sean Strickland, Brendan Allen might have to fight once more for a title shot, but we’ll see what the future holds for the rising contender out of Kill Cliff FC.
