Christian Leroy Duncan gets his first UFC main event this Saturday, and he picked the opponent himself. Duncan (15-2) faces Brendan Allen atop UFC Vegas 122 on Oct. 10, with the card streaming at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount+. The bout was originally slotted for UFC 332 before the promotion moved it to headline the Fight Night, a change Duncan told MMA Junkie he was happy about. He expects it to be a fun one for the fans.
The matchup came straight off a request. Duncan’s coach, Mark Weir, told Bloody Elbow that the team sends the UFC a ranked list after every fight, and Allen’s name was first on it.
“He (Allen) was at the top of Christian’s list,” Weir said. “Every time we fight, we send a top five list over to the UFC. The war room is on a Tuesday, so we do it literally straight away. We never expect to get the number one pick, but we ask anyway.”
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That approach has been working. Weir said the last three times the camp asked for a specific opponent, the UFC delivered. That includes Duncan’s most recent outing, a decision win over Jared Cannonier, which was another fight they requested by name. “We are aiming high and there’s a risk factor for everyone who’s fighting but so far, Christian’s done his job,” Weir added.
The numbers
Duncan rides a five-fight winning streak into Saturday and sits at 8-2 inside the Octagon, with wins over Roman Dolidze and Eryk Anders alongside the Cannonier result. BJPenn.com reported that Allen is ranked ahead of him, which tracks with the betting line. Duncan opens as a +108 underdog on FanDuel, about as close to a coin flip as a main event gets without actually being one.
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The winner moves into the title conversation at 185 pounds, and both men talked like they know it. “I have evolution and hunger on my side,” Duncan said in a clip posted by UFC News. Allen’s side kept it shorter, with the UFC promoting him as ready to go “ALL IN” this weekend. Previews have framed the fight as Duncan’s developing striking against Allen’s submission game, which is the cleanest stylistic split you’ll find on any card this month.
Quick take
I like a fighter who asks for the guy ranked above him and then shows up. That tells you the camp has done the film work and believes the matchup favors them, and Weir’s three-for-three run on requests says the UFC trusts them too. My concern is the obvious one. A striker climbing the ladder has to spend all 25 minutes, if it goes that long, refusing to hand a submission specialist the scramble he wants, and a first five-round headliner is a strange place to learn pacing. Still, +108 on a guy riding five straight wins, Cannonier included, reads like the market doubting him for the sake of it. I’m taking Duncan, and I expect him to make it ugly for Allen everywhere except the mat.
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