While Brendan
Allen knows his elite welterweight teammates are probably on a
collision course, he hopes they don’t have to fight.
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Allen will meet Chris
Curtis in a rematch in the main event at
UFC Fight Night 240 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Currently riding a six-fight winning streak that includes five
submissions, “All In” will likely get significantly closer to a
title shot with a win over Curtis.
Allen considers himself the frontrunner to be potentially crowned
the next champion from his gym,
Kill Cliff FC in Florida. If not him, Allen believes
welterweight teammates Belal
Muhammad and Shavkat
Rakhmonov are next in line. While Muhammad is undefeated in his
last 10 outings, the title shot has inexplicably evaded him so far.
Meanwhile, Rakhmonov has finished all 18 of his career wins, six of
them in the UFC.
Allen is rallying for Muhammad to receive the next title shot at
welterweight. However, the Wisconsin native also acknowledged the
possibility of Rakhmonov being the next title holder from Kill
Cliff FC after himself. Allen doesn’t want to consider the
possibility of Rakhmonov and Muhammad having to fight each
other.
“It’s hard to say man, because I would say Shavkat, but my boy
Belal’s up next,” Allen recently told The
Schmo. “We have so many killers, man. I think just the top one
off of the head would be Shavkat, but again my boy Belal’s up first
and I’m rooting for Belal all the way. I don’t even want to think
about Shavkat and Belal fighting because they’re both my friends.
Obviously I’ve known Belal a really long time, and he’s my really
close friend. Obviously he’s earned what he’s got coming to him.
And Shavkat’s my friend as well. I don’t like to think about them
two fighting each other but obviously it’s business, and it’ll
probably happen at some point. But to answer your question, next
[champ] would be me and then maybe Shavkat. But hopefully Belal’s
champion, and we’ll just keep it there for a while.”
Allen was originally scheduled to face Marvin
Vettori, who was replaced by Curtis on three weeks’ notice.
Interestingly, Allen’s last loss came against Curtis via technical
knockout in 2021, a fight which “Action Man” had also accepted on
short notice. Allen plans to outclass Curtis this time in all
aspects of the game instead of following a one-dimensional
approach.
“I don’t know man, I want to just go out there and perform a
masterclass. I know he’s gonna throw body shots, I know he’s gonna
switch stances. I know he’s gonna try to put me on my backfoot. I’m
prepared for everything he brings to the table,“ Allen said. „So my
goal is just to outclass him and beat him everywhere the fight
goes. It’s not gonna be just a one stop shop. Unless I catch him
early or he catches me early. He’s caught me before, so you never
know. But I’m looking to beat him everywhere. I’m looking to make
it a full fight and test him every single spot that the fight can
go — clinch, wrestling, striking, everything.”