Allen turns up the heat on Strickland: title fight – or give up the belt
After his win at UFC Vegas 122, Brendan Allen told the middleweight champion to fight him or vacate the title. Strickland is locked in a pay dispute with the UFC.
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After his submission win over Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC Vegas 122, Brendan Allen called out middleweight champion Sean Strickland directly. On his way back to the locker room, Allen said, according to LowKick MMA, that Strickland should face him – and if not, vacate the title so that he and Nassourdine Imavov could fight for the belt. “I want that gold. It's been too long,” Allen said.
The backdrop is Strickland's dispute with the UFC over his pay. The champion has publicly criticised the promotion in recent days; on October 7 he wrote on X, according to Heavy, that he would not mind giving up his belt and moving to light heavyweight because the weight cut is easier. The planned title fight against Imavov has not been booked because of the dispute.
According to MMA Junkie, Allen now has a UFC record of 16 wins and four losses, and according to Uncrowned the win over Duncan was his fourth in a row. In his in-cage interview with Michael Bisping, he had also called out former champion Dricus du Plessis alongside the current titleholder.