What is going on with matchmaking?
No. 6-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight Brendan Allen is set to return to action against unranked Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 118 on Sat., June 6, 2026, inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Eurosport was first to report the news.
Yes — Allen will be defending his Top 10 ranking against an unranked opponent … after just stopping a surging contender on short notice.
And no, he’s not even headlining.
Allen (26-7) is coming off a massive win
over Reinier de Ridder, finishing “The Dutch Knight” on short notice at UFC Vancouver (watch highlights). Just three months earlier, he also defeated heated rival Marvin Vettori in front of a home crowd.
Despite the momentum, “All-In” now finds himself in a puzzling booking.
Allen is 2-2 in his last four fights, but that stretch came after a dominant seven-fight win streak from 2022 to 2024 — a run that had him knocking on the door of title contention. He’s also been angling for a fight with former champion Dricus du Plessis, but that will have to wait.
As for Shahbazyan (14-4), the 28-year-old has quietly rebuilt his career after a rough stretch that saw him go 2-6 against tough competition, including losses to Nassourdine Imavov, Anthony Hernandez (watch highlights), and Jack Hermansson.
Now, “The Golden Boy” is riding a three-fight win streak and looks rejuvenated.
He’s coming off a first-round knockout win over Andre Muniz at UFC 320 (watch highlights), and prior to that picked up wins over Andre Petroski and Dylan Budka (watch it).
While Shahbazyan has been out of the rankings for years, a win over Allen would catapult him right back into the Top 15 in emphatic fashion.
Still… this is a strange one.
Here is what UFC Vegas 118 looks like so far:
Belal Muhammad v. Gabriel Bonfim
Brendan Allen vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
Bruno Silva vs. Edgar Chairez
Jeisla Chaves vs. Yuneisy Duben
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.
