Brendan Allen and Khamzat Chimaev have a handshake deal. They don’t fight each other unless a UFC belt is part of the package.
Allen laid out the terms during an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio. The friendship stays intact right up until a championship shows up, and then the friendship takes a seat.
“We have the agreement that we’re not going to fight each other unless it’s for gold,” Allen said. “So, if it’s for the belt, then we’re gonna fight. Fighting for the belt changes my life, and it changes my family’s. Everyone that I’ve ever come in contact with knows that about me: if it’s for a belt, there’s no questions that’s gonna be asked from my end.”
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I like that answer a lot. Fighters asked about facing a buddy usually go foggy and start talking about what the company wants. Allen tied it to his family’s bank account and moved on.
Why it’s coming up now
Allen is hot. He submitted Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC Vegas 122, which pushed his UFC winning streak to four and gave him a real argument for a title shot. That’s how Chimaev’s name entered the chat in the first place, since a contender on a run at 185 eventually bumps into the guys at the top.
Allen didn’t call out Chimaev after the Duncan win, though. He called out former champion Dricus Du Plessis, which tells you he’s looking for the fight that gets him to the belt and not the one that costs him a friend.
Chimaev’s situation has changed since the spring. “Borz” suffered the first loss of his pro career in May, when Sean Strickland took the middleweight title from him at UFC 328. Chimaev has been pushing for a rematch. Yahoo Sports reported that Nassourdine Imavov appears to be next in line for the title shot instead.
The math on the pact
Under Allen’s terms, this fight can’t happen with the board the way it is today. Strickland has the belt. Imavov seems to have the next crack at it. Chimaev is trying to talk his way back in, and Allen is trying to win his way in through Du Plessis.
So for Allen vs. Chimaev to get booked, one of them has to climb all the way back up and take the belt, and the other has to earn the shot. That’s a long road with a lot of dangerous people on it.
My quick take is that the pact is sincere, and it’s also convenient for both guys. Chimaev doesn’t need a contender fight against a friend while chasing a Strickland rematch, and Allen doesn’t need to risk a four-fight streak on a guy he’d rather keep in his corner. The fight Allen actually asked for is Du Plessis, and that’s the one the UFC should be booking for him next.
