This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Paris, we saw a big time matchup in the middleweight division between two men who were looking to jump into title contention. Fourth ranked Nassourdine Imavov (15-4) was taking on Brendan “All In” Allen (24-6) who was looking to win his eighth fight in a row.
After earning a contract on The Contender Series, Allen had an up and down start in the UFC. He had some solid wins, but then he had two TKO losses to Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis. That said, he won seven fights in a row leading to Saturday including avenging his loss against Chris Curtis.
In the first round, Allen was able to time a takedown and get Imavov down. He cruised to winning the first round. In the second round, Imavov kept things standing and really took control to even up the fight. In the third round, both men emptied the tank. While Allen had some success on the feet, he was too desperate to take the fight down.
The visuals weren’t great and he couldn’t get Imavov down. Imavov had the bigger moments on the feet and it ultimately led to Imavov picking up the decision win at UFC Paris.
What’s next after UFC Paris?
All in all, it was not a great performance at all for Brendan Allen. He was really looking to take that next step into true title contention on Saturday night and he just fell flat. So, what comes next for him? Well, he’s still ranked eighth in the UFC’s middleweight division so he didn’t lose any ground there.
Honestly, I think a great next opponent would be former title challenger Marvin Vettori. Vettori is ranked sixth in the division and he’s also coming off a loss. These two already have some heat after the two men got into a fight at a casino. You can see the video below. Considering where both men are in the division, I think the UFC should capitalize and book this matchup.