Christian Leroy Duncan wants the middleweight belt, and he sees no reason to stand in line behind anybody for it.
Ahead of his main event against Brendan Allen at UFC Vegas 122 on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Meta APEX, the English middleweight told MMA Fighting that an emphatic win should put him in the title picture, possibly ahead of Nassourdine Imavov, the man widely expected to get the first crack at champion Sean Strickland. Asked whether beating Allen could earn him a title shot, Duncan said, “I don’t see why not.”
The opening he’s eyeing is real. Strickland vs. Imavov hasn’t been made official, according to MMA Fighting, and the outlet reported that a financial hurdle appears to be holding it up. A stalled negotiation at the top of a division is where hungry contenders tend to wedge in a foot.
View post on X
Duncan’s résumé is built for that pitch. He’s on five straight wins, which the UFC said on X is the longest active streak at middleweight, and he’s 3-0 in 2026. The former Cage Warriors champion beat Roman in his first fight this year, then took a unanimous decision over Jared Cannonier in July. He laid out the climb himself.
“This year I fought Roman being a top 15 fighter, Cannonier being a top 10 fight, and now Brendan Allen being a top five, so the natural progression from that would be a former champion,” Duncan said.
Allen sits at No. 4, and Duncan said that ranking alone “puts us in that title contention kind of section now.” If the belt isn’t next, he said du Plessis “could very well be” the next step. MMA Fighting floated that as a possible headliner for the UFC’s next London card in the first quarter of 2027.
View post on X
First comes Allen, who has 19 octagon appearances, has won three in a row in the UFC and recently picked up back-to-back submission wins in grappling matches. Most of his MMA wins have come by submission, and Duncan expects him to go looking for the mat.
“I know if I was in his shoes, that’s the route that I would take against somebody like me,” Duncan said, adding later, “I don’t expect it to go to four or five rounds.”
As for the title fight that’s supposed to happen, Duncan gave Imavov credit for posing problems but warned against counting out Strickland, who has made a habit of winning as an underdog. Imavov is also on a five-fight streak that includes a decision over Allen plus wins over Israel Adesanya and Caio Borralho. Strickland, for his part, took the belt by upsetting Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 328, and du Plessis said on Fight Forecast this week that he expects Strickland to beat Imavov again.
View post on X
“Anything could happen with that one, but whoever does have [the belt], that’s who my eyes are set on,” Duncan said.
My take: I like a guy who’s asked if he deserves a title shot and simply says yes. But the math is unkind. Imavov already beat Allen by decision, so if Duncan also wins a decision, he’s done exactly what the top contender did and has no argument for cutting the line. A finish changes the conversation. A decision probably gets him du Plessis in London, which is a fine consolation prize for a guy who was fighting Roman at the start of the year. The answer comes Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on Paramount Plus.
