Seems like nobody wants to fight in their own division these days, with Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev both moving up in weight while Alex Pereira and Khamzat Chimaev dream of second straps in higher
divisions. Maybe it’s time to bring back the Open Weight Grand Prix from the days of PRIDE FC?
To be fair to the aforementioned fighters, this has been an ongoing issue for several years.
Regardless, UFC Vancouver headliner Brendan Allen can’t make sense of Chimaev’s latest callout of Pereira, considering “Borz” just won the 185-pound strap and has yet to log a single title defense. In addition, the middleweight division is stacked with viable contenders patiently waiting to pounce.
Including Allen.
“If you ask me, of course I would love to fight for the second belt,” Chimaev told Aslanbek Badaev (via Red Corner MMA). “It’s no secret the guy who’s got the belt at 205 pounds now is a very good matchup for me, except for should I get reckless standing with him. They say he has a lot of power, but I’ve never been edged out in that area. He used to fight at 185, too, and then moved up to 205, so I would like to fight at light heavyweight.”
Another Connie copycat?
“I think that’s kind of like the story of Chimaev, right? Like he just talks a lot,” Allen told reporters at the UFC Vancouver media day (via MMA Junkie). ”He gets a lot of eyes. It’s not to the degree, but it’s like Conor (McGregor) talking, talking, talking just to stay relevant. Obviously, Chimaev’s not that bad, right? He doesn’t say that much stuff and that much reckless stuff, but I don’t know. I think he’s got a lot of work to do in our division first. It’s not like he’s a huge 85’er that’s cutting a lot like Alex was to get to 185 to where it’s like, ‘Alright, I became a champion, I defended once, let’s just go up.’ It’s weird, but I don’t think that’s in his future right now.”
Chimaev defeated Dricus Du Plessis to win the middleweight title at UFC 319.
The 29 year-old Allen (25-7) was eliminated from the 185-pound title chase after suffering back-to-back losses to Nassourdine Imavov and Anthony Hernandez; however, “All In” can get right back into the hunt with an upset victory over No. 4-ranked Reinier de Ridder atop the UFC Vancouver fight card this weekend in Canada.
To see who else is fighting at UFC Vancouver on ESPN+ click here.
