LAS VEGAS – Many thought Brendan Allen's fighting career was going to skyrocket following his monumental win in late 2025.
Nearly one year ago Allen (27-7 MMA, 15-4 UFC), who's been a staple of the UFC middleweight rankings, stepped up. He accepted a fight on short notice against former ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder – who at the time was on a five-fight winning streak and coming off a win over ex-UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Given de Ridder was on the cusp of a title shot, and Allen was taking the opportunity on short notice, few gave him a chance.
Despite the odds, Allen delivered a big upset in the form of a stoppage victory over the Dutch fighter. Since then, however, Allen fought and defeated Edmen Shahbazyan,
who's unranked, in June – and now he's facing Christian Leroy Duncan (15-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who is No. 10 in the division, at Saturday's UFC Fight Night 290 headliner (Paramount+).
Allen has been campaigning for a higher caliber of opponent, but a lack of availability paired with his need to generate income, has driven him to fight lesser-ranked opposition despite his placement.
"I kind of have a set timeline to where I want to fight, let's just say October, and I want to fight up – obviously everyone wants to fight up – but if there's no one available, then whoever is next in line," Allen said at Wednesday's UFC Fight Night 290 media day. "This is kind of how it's fallen out so far these last two. I don't want to sit out and wait. I don't have the means, honestly. I don't have the means. I don't have these sponsors paying me thousands of dollars a month to where I can sit out and just wait. So yeah, I want to fight around a timeline, so whoever is available, whoever wants to fight, that's who gets it. So far, it's been guys down the list."
Duncan might not have the biggest name at 185 pounds, but he is on the rise. The Englishman has five consecutive wins with two knockouts that came via spinning attacks. Allen sees Duncan as a dangerous foe, and that excites him.
"He's young in his career. He's a young guy in his career, so he's just finding himself," Allen said. "I think he's talented, but I think he's very green when it comes to his career. I think this is a big, big step up for him, and I'm expecting him to be one of those guys that takes that step up, takes that pressure, and that opportunity and really thrives. Sometimes you see guys fall, and sometimes you see guys thrive. I think he's a guy who's going to thrive. I'm super excited to go out there and test that. I like when I watch his fights, he kind of has that dog in him, but it's never been fully tested. 'Robocop' did a good job at testing it, but I'm really going to test it. It's five rounds. They only had three. Five rounds, man. He better hope he catches me early because if he doesn't catch me early, we're really going to see what he's made of."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Brendan Allen explains fighting down the UFC rankings despite career momentum
