4th place Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight contender Brendan Allen defended his position by presenting a hot prospect Christian Leroy Duncan at the main event of the year UFC Vegas 122 last night (Saturday, October 10, 2026) at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch the highlights).
For the second fight in a row, Allen took on an opponent ranked well below him despite sitting near the top of the division.
“All in” given Reinier de Ridder his first UFC loss (watch the highlights), ended Edmen Shahbazyan’s streak and became the first person to stop Duncan. Allen has now won four straight fights, but instead of a title loss, he’s been repeatedly asked to defend his spot against soaring prospects.
Allen has spent months and months inviting fights with the former middleweight champion In Dricus du Plessisand after his last win, he again challenged DDP to a match.
“Yeah, if he drops his nuts,” Allen told reporters UFC Vegas 122 post-fight press conference. “It’s all his talk all the time. I’ve been waiting for the contract to be signed.
“I’ve seen everybody talking crap saying I’m just calling out DDP, but that’s because he’s the only point,” Allen continued. “No. 1, we’ve had our differences. No. 2, we’ve had to fight before, so it’s not unreasonable. I’m not going to chase that mother-ball. If she wants to fight, then fight. If not, we’ll figure something else out.”
Allen believes Du Plessis deliberately chose an easier matchup when he fought the former longtime welterweight champion Kamaru Usman instead of settling for a fight with him.
“Dricus got Kamaru and everybody was wooing Kamaru because of his resume,” Allen told MMAmania.com. “Yeah, he’s got a great resume and he’s one of the best to ever do it at Welterweight. His accolades are huge. That’s true.”
“But we’re not there anymore. We’re a long way from it,” Allen continued. “Father Time can be any of us if we stay in this game long enough. So yeah, he was an easier fight compared to me. No doubt about it.”
Allen then explained why he believes he presented Du Plessis with a much more dangerous challenge.
“I’m younger, I’m hungrier, I’m bigger, I’m faster and I’m stronger,” Allen said. “I’m close in terms of experience. He’s had more title fights, but I’ve had more fights. I’m tough. I think I’m better technically, but that’s just my opinion.
“Any way you cut it, I was the tougher fight at that point, no question about it,” Allen continued. “He took the easy fight. He knows it, I know it, and f—k Henry Cejudotoo.”
Cejudo remained the co-host of Usman’s podcast.
With Allen ranked #4, Du Plessis still hovering near the top of the division, and both men carrying real bad blood, the matchup makes a lot of sense.
Whether that actually happens is another matter.
One thing’s for sure: After defending his ranking against two straight prospects, Allen isn’t going to fight anyone six spots below him again.
He wants “DDP” – nuts and all.
Click for results, coverage and highlights from the UFC Vegas 122 fight card HERE
