brendan allen accepted an offer to face Nassourdine Imavov in Paris, but now has doubts about the location.
Allen (24-5 MMA, 12-2 UFC) revealed that the UFC offered him a match against Imavov (14-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night on September 28 at the Accor Arena in Paris, France and he agreed.
However, upon learning that Benoit Saint Denis vs. Renato Moicano is five rounds and potentially the card’s headliner, the rising middleweight challenger is now refusing to travel halfway around the world.
“This is for everyone asking me what’s going on, when I’m going to fight next,” Allen said on his Instagram Story (h/t MMA Orbit). “Two weeks ago, they said Imavov in Paris, I said yes. I said I want to be the main event because I did three main events in a row, I won all three, I’m going to enemy territory. If we’re going to do it with all the risk, all the gain, let’s go, main event. Next thing you know, we see BSD-Mohawk as the main event. I’m not going to Paris for these two guys to walk all over me.
“One guy is losing, the other almost doesn’t win, bro. No, I’m not with that. So, Imavov, if you want to fight, if you want this job, come to America, we will do it. There’s no way we can be below these guys. I know it’s ‘The Ultimate Followers Championship’ but even if they got the followers, just put them on the card, people will come anyway. Imavov, you want to fight, you want to end this, if it’s just me you want to fight, come to America and we’ll do it.”
Three of Allen’s last four fights were Octagon headliners. He scored victories over Andre Muniz, Paul Craig and Chris Curtis. The 28-year-old is on a seven-fight winning streak and is ranked No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie midfield ratings.
