Brendan
Allen is hopeful of a middleweight title shot if he gets past
his next opponent.
Advertisement
Allen will go to enemy territory to co-headline
UFC Fight Night 243 against French contender Nassourdine
Imavov at the Accor Arena in Paris on Saturday. While Allen
acknowledged Imavov’s striking speed, “All in” believes he is a
better fighter overall.
“One attribute that definitely stands out for him is, he’s fast. I
just think I’m better,” Allen recently told TMZ Sports. “I’m sure he probably thinks he’s
better than me. I just think I’m better than him everywhere. I
don’t think he’s fought anyone like me that possesses the skills
that I possess and the athletic abilities that I have, the
experience. I don’t think he’s fought anyone with all those things
lumped in one. I know he’s probably thinking he’s gonna come out
here and run through me and beat me up or whatever, that’s fine.
Lot of people have thought that before and lot of people have
fallen. So hopefully he’ll be the next one.”
Currently riding a seven-fight winning streak that includes five
submissions, Allen is on the cusp of a title shot. Meanwhile, the
middleweight title picture is currently a bit cloudy. Dricus Du
Plessis won the title with a controversial split-decision win
over Sean
Strickland at UFC 297 this past January. Du Plessis has since
defended his strap with a submission win over Israel
Adesanya at UFC 305 this past August. Strickland is now adamant
on fighting for the title next, which Dana White has implied will
likely be the case. However, the clash between top contender
Khamzat
Chimaev and former champ Robert
Whittaker scheduled for UFC 308 on Oct. 26 also cannot be
entirely discounted as a potential title eliminator. Amid the
logjam, Allen is hoping to impress enough at UFC Paris to make a
case for a gold bid. As for a preference of opponent, Allen
wouldn’t mind either Du Plessis, whom he has been trying to fight
for a while, or Strickland, who defeated him via TKO in 2020.
“I really hope this one is the one that gets me the title shot…
I’ve been trying to fight [Du Plessis] since he come into this
organization,” Allen said. “So I’d love for it to be him still when
I get there. By the way, if Sean wins and I get that next, that’s
great for me too. I don’t mind either one of those guys being next,
no matter what. I’ll definitely take either one of those guys next.
But I’m not willing to wait a year to do so. The division’s in a
weird spot right not. It just is, it’s just one of those times. And
hopefully I can stand out above the rest and get my shot next.”