Brendan Allen
All In
USA
Holds serve at 185 pounds
Allen defeated Edmen Shahbazyan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
Wanting to stay active with no one ahead of him in the rankings available, Allen agreed to this fight despite the fact he had nothing to gain and everything to lose. According to the numbers, this was a very close fight. Shahbazyan actually won the significant strike battle by a 90-89 count, while Brendan landing just 1-of-4 takedown attempts. That said, the more notable, damaging strikes definitely came from the Allen side. He's always been super tough and extremely durable, so it's no shock he was willing to throw down against a guy in Edmen that has had durability issues in the past. Ranked No. 4 in the middleweight division, Allen is going to a huge fight his next time out if he's willing to stay and the sidelines and bide his time.
Wanting to stay active with no one ahead of him in the rankings available, Allen agreed to this fight despite the fact he had nothing to gain and everything to lose. According to the numbers, this was a very close fight. Shahbazyan actually won the significant strike battle by a 90-89 count, while Brendan landing just 1-of-4 takedown attempts. That said, the more notable, damaging strikes definitely came from the Allen side. He's always been super tough and extremely durable, so it's no shock he was willing to throw down against a guy in Edmen that has had durability issues in the past. Ranked No. 4 in the middleweight division, Allen is going to a huge fight his next time out if he's willing to stay and the sidelines and bide his time.
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Booked vs Shahbazyan
Allen will fight Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 118 on June 6, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Allen has booked his next fight, as he will take on the unranked Shahbazyan in June. Allen is on a three-fight winning streak, most recently defeating Reinier de Ridder via TKO in October. Shahbazyan is also on a three-fight winning streak, and was originally scheduled to fight Jun Yong Park on April 4 before Park withdrew with an injury.
Allen has booked his next fight, as he will take on the unranked Shahbazyan in June. Allen is on a three-fight winning streak, most recently defeating Reinier de Ridder via TKO in October. Shahbazyan is also on a three-fight winning streak, and was originally scheduled to fight Jun Yong Park on April 4 before Park withdrew with an injury.
Scores late-notice main event win
Allen defeated Reinier de Ridder via TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 4 at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Vancouver.
ANALYSIS
This was an unbelievable performance from Allen on short notice. Brendan is a quality middleweight and has been for a long time, but he's short on "notable" wins during his UFC run. This is probably his best to date. He really struggled with the grappling game of de Ridder in Round 1 before finding the answer to the riddle in Round 2. He proceeded to dominate the rest of the way. In Rounds 2-4 combined, Allen was credited with 11:07 worth of control time. He was so heavy from top position and dominated his opponent so much that RDR's corner pulled the plug prior to the final frame. Even with the win, Allen is just 2-2 in his last four fights. More importantly, those two setbacks came against Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez, the two guys presumably ahead of him in line for a title shot at 185 pounds.
This was an unbelievable performance from Allen on short notice. Brendan is a quality middleweight and has been for a long time, but he's short on "notable" wins during his UFC run. This is probably his best to date. He really struggled with the grappling game of de Ridder in Round 1 before finding the answer to the riddle in Round 2. He proceeded to dominate the rest of the way. In Rounds 2-4 combined, Allen was credited with 11:07 worth of control time. He was so heavy from top position and dominated his opponent so much that RDR's corner pulled the plug prior to the final frame. Even with the win, Allen is just 2-2 in his last four fights. More importantly, those two setbacks came against Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez, the two guys presumably ahead of him in line for a title shot at 185 pounds.
Next fight scheduled
Allen is set to compete against Reinier de Ridder at UFC Vancouver on Oct. 18, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
With Anthony Hernandez (undisclosed) unable to fight, Allen will step in and aim to improve his professional record to 26-7-0. The 29-year-old won his last fight against Marvin Vettori on July 19 via unanimous decision, though Allen had previously lost three straight bouts before that victory.
With Anthony Hernandez (undisclosed) unable to fight, Allen will step in and aim to improve his professional record to 26-7-0. The 29-year-old won his last fight against Marvin Vettori on July 19 via unanimous decision, though Allen had previously lost three straight bouts before that victory.
Gets best of Marvin Vettori
Allen defeated Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) at UFC 318 on Saturday in New Orleans.
ANALYSIS
In a battle of two highly-regarded middleweights that desperately needed a win, Allen put forth a strong effort from start to finish. Brendan has always been known for his submission game as opposed to his striking, but he battered Vettori on the feet early on to set the tone of the fight. He mixed in three takedowns on four attempts, although he wasn't able to do much in terms of control time or positional advantage. All in all, it was a nice performance on the heels of back-to-back unanimous decision losses to a pair of highly regarded opponents in Anthony Hernandez and Nassourdine Imavov. Allen needs to start stringing together some wins if he wants to get back on the fringes of the title picture at 185 pounds. In the meantime, he'll at least walk away $50,000 richer after this bout was awarded Fight of the Night honors.
In a battle of two highly-regarded middleweights that desperately needed a win, Allen put forth a strong effort from start to finish. Brendan has always been known for his submission game as opposed to his striking, but he battered Vettori on the feet early on to set the tone of the fight. He mixed in three takedowns on four attempts, although he wasn't able to do much in terms of control time or positional advantage. All in all, it was a nice performance on the heels of back-to-back unanimous decision losses to a pair of highly regarded opponents in Anthony Hernandez and Nassourdine Imavov. Allen needs to start stringing together some wins if he wants to get back on the fringes of the title picture at 185 pounds. In the meantime, he'll at least walk away $50,000 richer after this bout was awarded Fight of the Night honors.
Slated to face Vettori
Allen will take on Marvin Vettori in a middleweight bout at UFC 318 on July 19 in New Orleans, per Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl.
ANALYSIS
Allen is in desperate need of a win. He's dropped his last three fights, falling to Anthony Hernandez in his last UFC action. He still holds a very respectable 12-4 record in the promotion, but he'll be chasing his first victory since April of 2024. He has one inch of height on his opponent Vettori, as well as an inch of reach.
Allen is in desperate need of a win. He's dropped his last three fights, falling to Anthony Hernandez in his last UFC action. He still holds a very respectable 12-4 record in the promotion, but he'll be chasing his first victory since April of 2024. He has one inch of height on his opponent Vettori, as well as an inch of reach.