Brendan Allen
All In
USA
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.
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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.
Second straight poor performance
Allen lost to Anthony Hernandez via unanimous decision (28-29, 28-29, 28-29) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Seattle.
ANALYSIS
It was another underwhelming effort from Allen in a big spot. He was most definitely the better man in Round 1 but ended up spending nearly the entirety of the final two rounds being controlled on the mat, which is always the concern when facing Hernandez. Allen's poor fight IQ didn't help matters. He appeared to have Hernandez severely compromised after a punch early in Round 3, only to try to go to his grappling game in the aftermath. It didn't work. Allen is most definitely better on the mat than feet, but he has to realize when he's the better striker of the two and try to take advantage. With losses in back-to-back fights on the heels of a seven-fight winning streak, Brendan is miles from title contention at 185 pounds.
It was another underwhelming effort from Allen in a big spot. He was most definitely the better man in Round 1 but ended up spending nearly the entirety of the final two rounds being controlled on the mat, which is always the concern when facing Hernandez. Allen's poor fight IQ didn't help matters. He appeared to have Hernandez severely compromised after a punch early in Round 3, only to try to go to his grappling game in the aftermath. It didn't work. Allen is most definitely better on the mat than feet, but he has to realize when he's the better striker of the two and try to take advantage. With losses in back-to-back fights on the heels of a seven-fight winning streak, Brendan is miles from title contention at 185 pounds.
Taking on Hernandez
Allen will take on Anthony Hernandez in a middleweight bout at a UFC event on February 22, Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
Allen will be looking for a bounce-back win after Nassourdine Imavov bested him via unanimous decision back in September. That loss snapped a seven fight winning streak for Allen. Hernandez, meanwhile, has won six straight and has no intention of having his own winning streak snapped.
Allen will be looking for a bounce-back win after Nassourdine Imavov bested him via unanimous decision back in September. That loss snapped a seven fight winning streak for Allen. Hernandez, meanwhile, has won six straight and has no intention of having his own winning streak snapped.
Winning streak snapped at seven
Allen lost to Nassourdine Imavov via unanimous decision (28-29, 28-29, 28-29) at UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Paris.
ANALYSIS
Flying across the Atlantic to take on a Paris native in his own backyard is no easy task, but Allen has been vocal about believing he is one of the best in the world at 185 pounds. For five minutes, he looked like it. Allen landed an early takedown and spent nearly all of Round 1 in a dominant position. He didn't land a single attempt the rest of the way. That allowed Imavov -- who didn't do a ton himself -- to pull ahead on the scorecards in what was a clear cut 29-28 victory. Allen is very good on the mat, but he gets hit far too much on the feet and tends to struggle if he isn't able to get his grappling game going. It's hard to say any fight is a "must win" when you entered with seven straight victories, but Imavov represented a step up in competition and Allen failed the test.
Flying across the Atlantic to take on a Paris native in his own backyard is no easy task, but Allen has been vocal about believing he is one of the best in the world at 185 pounds. For five minutes, he looked like it. Allen landed an early takedown and spent nearly all of Round 1 in a dominant position. He didn't land a single attempt the rest of the way. That allowed Imavov -- who didn't do a ton himself -- to pull ahead on the scorecards in what was a clear cut 29-28 victory. Allen is very good on the mat, but he gets hit far too much on the feet and tends to struggle if he isn't able to get his grappling game going. It's hard to say any fight is a "must win" when you entered with seven straight victories, but Imavov represented a step up in competition and Allen failed the test.
New fight scheduled
Allen is set to compete against Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Paris on Sept. 28, MMAFighting.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Allen is set to compete against Imavov in the middleweight division. Allen will look to extend his winning streak to eight, as he has won by a rear naked choke submission in five of his last seven bouts.
Allen is set to compete against Imavov in the middleweight division. Allen will look to extend his winning streak to eight, as he has won by a rear naked choke submission in five of his last seven bouts.