Brendan Allen Explains Callout List After UFC Fight Night 220 Victory

Brendan Allen unveiled a fairly lengthy callout list following his submission victory against Andre Muniz in the makeshift UFC Fight Night 220 main event.

The former Dana White’s Contender Series alum first mentioned rematches against Sean Strickland and Chris Curtis, the only two men to defeat him thus far during his 9-2 run in the UFC. If those aren’t possible, “All In” also targeted bouts against either Jack Hermansson or Dricus Du Plessis. At the post-fight press conference, Allen explained his reasoning behind the opponent wish list.

“At this point, I’m not really trying to chase anything. I’m a super competitive guy. I like Sean and Chris, I think they’re very good guys. We talked for 40 minutes at the UFC PI in the cafeteria,” Allen said. “That’s just business and there’s a lot of eyes if I fought Strickland again, especially me coming off a win and him having fought the champion before, so that sets a statement.

“I understand how this business works a little bit, so I’m OK with fighting someone new. That’s why I gave two names, Dricus and Jack (Hermansson). Me and Jack were supposed to line up a couple of times, but it didn’t happen. … So I don’t care who it is. We can run it whenever, wherever. I’m the best in the damn world, and I’m going to keep showing that.”

While his next step remains uncertain, the MMA community was buzzing after Allen tapped out Muniz, a renowned grappler, with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their middleweight clash at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“My ego says let’s jump guard and see what’s up. But my intelligence and my skill says let’s test him where he’s not so good at,” Allen recalled. “Honestly, I felt like he was going to get me down at some point .. My coaches, my team, my brother…[they] told me, ‘He’s not gonna get you down.’ As soon as I felt him, I knew he had nothing for me.

“This one kind of sucks a little bit because I think he’s a really good guy,” Allen added. “I really like this guy, I have a lot of respect for this man. He didn’t hide behind his ranking at the end of the day… Hat’s off to Andre for sure.”

Allen has won four straight fights since falling to Curtis at UFC on ESPN 31, a streak that includes wins over Sam Alvey, Jacob Malkoun and Krzysztof Jotko.