Former light heavyweight fighter Paul Craig returned for his second middleweight fight at UFC Vegas 82. He took on Brendan Allen, who was on a 5-fight winning streak before heading into the fight against ‘Bearjew’. But he lost to the 27-year-old via submission as Allen followed that up with a demand to Dana White.
Paul Craig lost two fights in a row against Johnny Walker and Volkan Oezdemir. Thereafter, he decided to move down to the middleweight division. It proved to be a great decision for the Scottish fighter as Craig registered a win over Andre Muniz in his first 185lbs fight. However, he could not overcome Brendan Allen.
Brendan Allen submits Paul Craig at UFC Vegas 82
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The 1st round started with Brendan Allen going for several strikes at Paul Craig, with leg kicks and body shots. But then they got into a grappling battle, vying for a dominant position. However, Allen got the better of Craig as he scored a takedown. He was all over the Scottish fighter, but the former heavyweight was not going to give up easily. Meanwhile, Allen almost got Craig into a rear-naked choke but the 35-year-old replied with a leg lock, but the fight did not end there.
Brendan Allen started the second round similarly to the first round with strikes as he, along with Paul Craig, caught each other with a right hand, rattling each other. However, they reverted to a grappling contest, but the 27-year-old was in a controlling position. Craig, meanwhile, suffered a cut on the side of his right eye due to elbow strikes from his opponent, which did not look good.
He made that one look easy 🤷♂️@BrendanAllenMMA puts an end to this #UFCVegas82 main event with another tapout victory! pic.twitter.com/0FhfyEudVh
— UFC (@ufc) November 19, 2023
Paul Craig was hoping to have control of the fight in the third round but got caught in a rear-naked choke. He tapped out as Allen secured his sixth win in a row. Following the win, the 27-year-old expressed his urge to fight for the number-one contender’s spot by calling out a few notable names.
‘All In’ keeps his demand to Dana White while calling out Khamzat Chimaev
After securing his 6th consecutive win, Brendan Allen called out Dana White for a top spot in the ranking and a number one contender’s match. He said, “I need a no. 1 contender’s shot. I deserve it, I’ve earned it.” In addition to that, Allen also called out Jared Cannonier, Khamzat Chimaev, and former champion Robert Whittaker to be the opponent for his next fight.
There are a few names on the mind of @BrendanAllenMMA after his #UFCVegas82 performance 👀 pic.twitter.com/8oybJK0HeT
— UFC (@ufc) November 19, 2023
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“Whoever the UFC says that is, I don’t care who. Whittaker, Cannonier [and] c**shot [Chimaev], whoever. I don’t care,” said a confident Brendan Allen. Just a few days after he trashed Khamzat Chimaev’s middleweight ranking, he expressed his wish to fight him for the number 1 contender’s spot if the UFC can make that happen.
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Brendan Allen is on a roll with six consecutive wins. He found his winning ways after a loss to Chris Curtis in 2021, and since then he has not turned back. It remains to be seen how things pan out for the 27-year-old as he believes that he’s earned his way to a title fight. We will have to wait and see what Dana White decides to do.
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