Brendan Allen has 15 wins inside the octagon, a three-fight streak, and an online following he freely admits is small. Days before he headlines UFC Vegas 122 against Christian Leroy Duncan this Saturday, Allen told MMA Fighting he has made a kind of uneasy peace with that gap, while admitting it still stings.
“My social media is super low. People don’t really say much about me unless it’s shit, but you kind of like it that way though, right?” Allen said. A little later he put it more plainly: “I’m just not that likable guy, I guess, so it is what it is.”
He isn’t shrugging off the business side. Allen pointed out that a bigger audience brings bigger fights and better sponsorships, and he said other fighters have landed bookings their talent didn’t earn because they bring viewers. He also said he has no one bankrolling him or fetching him fights he hasn’t earned. “I do this shit by myself,” he said.
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How he got here
The Duncan booking surprised him only partly. After Allen beat Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 118 in June, a pairing that puzzled plenty of people, he and many others figured a top-six name was next. “In a way, yes, but in a way, no,” Allen said of his reaction. He explained that the UFC told him nobody else was available, and that a December date was floated but not promised. Allen likes to stay busy, and this will be his fourth fight in 15 months. “If I don’t fight, I don’t make money, so, go get this check,” he said. “Hopefully, get this win, and then we can communicate about the rest later, but kids got to eat.”
He’s 30 years old. The best win on the current run is a stoppage of Reinier de Ridder at UFC Vancouver a little over a year ago, and Allen believes his résumé is “better than, f*ck, I would say 90 or 95 percent of the roster.”
Duncan arrives with momentum. He’s 8-2 in the UFC with five straight wins, the latest a decision over former title challenger Jared Cannonier at UFC Oklahoma City in July.
Allen has a teammate who knows this road. Belal Muhammad spent years as the guy whose record outran his profile, then beat Leon Edwards for the welterweight title in his first shot at UFC 304 in July 2024. Allen said the two have talked about it, though Muhammad’s situation looks different now. “Every time you go somewhere with him, everyone is always asking him for pictures, no matter where you go in the world,” Allen said.
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The matchup
Allen’s read on the fight is a pace argument. “I think I’m going to go out there and I’m going to put pressure on him, and past the second round, I’m just going to run away with it,” he said. He framed Duncan’s path to victory narrowly: “That’s the only way he’s gonna beat me is to catch me.” He also called his plan “just a hypothesis,” which is an honest thing for a main eventer to say out loud.
The complication is that Duncan’s biggest win came on the scorecards against a seasoned veteran, so he has already shown he can stay composed deep into a fight with an experienced middleweight. If Allen’s pressure doesn’t break him early, the later rounds are where his theory gets tested.
My take: this is the right fight, whatever Allen expected. Beating Shahbazyan in June did little for his case. Beating the man who just went the distance with Cannonier and won, a guy on a five-fight streak, is a different kind of argument, and you make it by winning. If Allen is still the one pressing forward in Round 3 on Saturday night, the top six will run out of reasons to stay unavailable.
