Brendan Allen, the UFC’s middleweight contender, had earlier expressed his disappointment after the UFC fight scheduled with Bruno Silva. Allen will get in the cage with Silva at Saturday’s event. The event takes place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, with its main card airing on ABC after the prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
DWCS vets with the most UFC wins:
Kevin Holland: 11
Brendan Allen: 9
Dan Ige: 9
Sean O’Malley: 8
Ricky Simon: 8#UFCJacksonville— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) June 22, 2023
Up until the moment, it had only been about dates and not opponents for the upcoming middleweight contender. “I’m the kind of guy that kind of set my schedule to where it’s the timeline I kind of want to fight on,” Allen said (via MMA Junkie).
Even when the Bruno Silva fight was booked, Allen wasn’t sure whether he deserved the fight, as Bruno is not even in the top 15 ranked fighters.
Brendan Allen (@BrendanAllenMMA): After I win at #UFCJacksonville, ‘I ain’t fighting down no more’ https://t.co/gMBRDPmGvs
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 21, 2023
He maps out everything prior to his matches, including where, when, and whom he is going to take on. “At this level, everyone is good, especially now that I have a number next to my name. People want that number if I’m fighting down. With a win on Saturday night, I ain’t fighting down no more,” Allen stated.
Allen said in his statement that he is now capable enough to fight anyone. He stated that he is ready for a fighter who can finish him or hurt him. Allen has made it clear that he’ll be conscious about his opponents’ rankings since he is now a ranked fighter (currently 13).
Brendan Allen so far at UFC
Hailing from America, Brendan Allen is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt currently competing in the middleweight division at UFC. A professional fighter since 2015, Allen has also competed in the Legacy Fighting Alliance where he is the former middleweight champion in his division. As of now, Allen is ranked #13 in the middleweight division.
Brendan has a brilliant UFC record with 21 wins and 5 losses, with 12 of his victories coming from submissions. Recently, Allen was supposed to get in the cage with Jack Hermansson. This would have been an interesting matchup for the fans, but Hermansson withdrew due to an injury, according to reports.
Allen is currently riding a four-fight undefeated streak, with his most recent win coming by rear-naked choke submission against No. 14-ranked middleweight Andre Muniz. Surprisingly, Allen has used rear-naked choke submissions in three of his previous four victories. A win over Silva might propel him further up the rankings and even secure him a top-10 opponent.
Currently ranked at #13 in the UFC Middleweight division, Brendan Allen (@BrendanAllenMMA) is always improving coming off an enormous submission victory over the BJJ ace Andre Muniz!
Mr. All-In is ready to notch another win at #UFCJacksonville! pic.twitter.com/sYjJYVPOjK
— Combat Sports Today 📰 (@CSTodayNews) June 21, 2023
Prior to Hermansson, Allen faced Krzysztof Jotko, did not take much time to assess the situation, and ended the match in the very first round with a submission at UFC Fight Night on October 1, 2022. Similarly, Allen had risen to victory with a unanimous decision against Jacob Malkoun in UFC 275 on June 11 last year.
“After this, I think I’ve done enough fighting back and defending my spot,” Allen stated. “Because even technically when I wasn’t in the rankings, I had to beat 16 or 17. I was defending that constantly. I don’t see a need to look down anymore.” After his bout on Saturday, which might be his 10th promotional victory,
Allen plans to focus on the division’s highest level. With a win, he will claim five consecutive fights. Allen believes it will then be time to target individual opponents.