Brendan Allen Hopes Teammates Rakhmonov, Muhammad Don’t Have To Fight

While Brendan Allen knows his elite welterweight teammates are probably on a collision course, he hopes they don’t have to fight.

Allen will meet Chris Curtis in a rematch in the main event at UFC Fight Night 240 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Currently riding a six-fight winning streak that includes five submissions, “All In” will likely get significantly closer to a title shot with a win over Curtis.

Allen considers himself the frontrunner to be potentially crowned the next champion from his gym, Kill Cliff FC in Florida. If not him, Allen believes welterweight teammates Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov are next in line. While Muhammad is undefeated in his last 10 outings, the title shot has inexplicably evaded him so far. Meanwhile, Rakhmonov has finished all 18 of his career wins, six of them in the UFC.

Allen is rallying for Muhammad to receive the next title shot at welterweight. However, the Wisconsin native also acknowledged the possibility of Rakhmonov being the next title holder from Kill Cliff FC after himself. Allen doesn’t want to consider the possibility of Rakhmonov and Muhammad having to fight each other.

“It’s hard to say man, because I would say Shavkat, but my boy Belal’s up next,” Allen recently told The Schmo. “We have so many killers, man. I think just the top one off of the head would be Shavkat, but again my boy Belal’s up first and I’m rooting for Belal all the way. I don’t even want to think about Shavkat and Belal fighting because they’re both my friends. Obviously I’ve known Belal a really long time, and he’s my really close friend. Obviously he’s earned what he’s got coming to him. And Shavkat’s my friend as well. I don’t like to think about them two fighting each other but obviously it’s business, and it’ll probably happen at some point. But to answer your question, next [champ] would be me and then maybe Shavkat. But hopefully Belal’s champion, and we’ll just keep it there for a while.”

Allen was originally scheduled to face Marvin Vettori, who was replaced by Curtis on three weeks’ notice. Interestingly, Allen’s last loss came against Curtis via technical knockout in 2021, a fight which “Action Man” had also accepted on short notice. Allen plans to outclass Curtis this time in all aspects of the game instead of following a one-dimensional approach.

“I don’t know man, I want to just go out there and perform a masterclass. I know he’s gonna throw body shots, I know he’s gonna switch stances. I know he’s gonna try to put me on my backfoot. I’m prepared for everything he brings to the table," Allen said. "So my goal is just to outclass him and beat him everywhere the fight goes. It’s not gonna be just a one stop shop. Unless I catch him early or he catches me early. He’s caught me before, so you never know. But I’m looking to beat him everywhere. I’m looking to make it a full fight and test him every single spot that the fight can go — clinch, wrestling, striking, everything.”