Brendan Allen and Khamzat Chimaev are close friends who have already worked out the terms of a breakup. Allen said on MMA Junkie Radio that the two middleweights agreed they won’t fight each other unless a UFC title is on the line.
“We have the agreement that we’re not gonna fight each other unless it’s for gold,” Allen said. “So, if it’s for the belt, then we’re gonna fight.”
Allen made clear that, from his side, this is about the bank account and the family. He said he lacks the fame and financial security to wave off a title shot because a buddy is standing in the other corner. “Fighting for the belt changes my life, and it changes my family’s life,” he said. He went a step further and said he’d almost prefer facing a friend, since the belt improves somebody’s life either way and he’d want that for a guy he cares about. “If someone has to beat me, I’d rather it be my friend.”
Where they sit
Allen (28-7 MMA, 16-4 UFC) is riding a four-fight winning streak after submitting Christian Leroy Duncan in the main event of UFC Fight Night 290. Sixteen wins in 20 UFC appearances works out to an 80 percent clip, which is the kind of number that eventually gets you a phone call from matchmaking.
The complication is that Chimaev (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC), a former champion, sits above Allen in the rankings and could get back to a title shot first. Sean Strickland holds the belt right now, and per MMA Junkie he’s working through his issues ahead of his next defense. If that picture shakes out with Chimaev as champion and Allen as the next man up, Allen says nothing stops the fight.
There’s precedent for friends gumming up a division. Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili refused to fight each other for years while Sterling ran the bantamweight division, and they took heat from Dana White and fans for it. Allen’s arrangement runs the other direction, with the title acting as the exception that overrides the friendship.
Before any of that, both men are heading to the wrestling mat. Allen faces former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko at RAF 14 on Oct. 23 at Fontainebleau in Las Vegas, and Chimaev meets UFC Hall of Famer Robbie Lawler on the same card.
Sal’s take: Most “we’ll never fight” pacts are useless to the people who actually buy tickets, because they rule out the one fight that matters. This one does the opposite. It only kicks in for a title fight, which is the only version of Allen vs. Chimaev anybody wants anyway. It also costs both guys nothing until the stakes are real. The catch is it needs two things to hit at once, Chimaev back on top and Allen next in line, and I’ve lost enough two-leg tickets to know how often both legs cash. My only real worry is two title-relevant middleweights grappling for fun on Oct. 23 when one tweaked knee could scramble the whole division.
