According to Brendan Allen, former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis is being spoonfed easy matchups by the UFC matchmakers.
Du Plessis defeated former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman this past weekend at UFC Oklahoma City in a Fight of the Night. But according to Allen, beating a former 170 lbs fighter who is almost 40 isn’t as impressive as it seems.
Brendan Allen Critical of UFC Matchmaking for Dricus du Plessis
Speaking on the “JAXXON Podcast,” Allen was critical of the UFC matchmakers for the fights they have been giving du Plessis, as he believes he is being spoonfed easy, winnable fights that stylistically favor the South African to win.
“Usman is one of the best to ever do it at welterweight, but we’re still living off of that. He’s almost 40 years old, up a weight class. You can tell the size difference. Usman probably didn’t cut but three or four pounds maybe. I don’t know. He looked slow. He looked stiff. It looks like he can’t train anymore. Everyone talks about his knees, but he says he’s good,” Allen said (via Bloody Elbow).
“That is not the same guy we used to see. You’ve got Dricus who’s sitting over here like, ‘I just beat Kamaru Usman. I beat Izzy.’ You beat them at the end of their career. You didn’t beat them when they were in their prime, killing it. You’re not fighting these young, hungry guys. To me, he’s got the best matchups. I’ve tried to fight him since he got in the UFC.”
Dricus du Plessis Accused of Ducking Brendan Allen
Allen, who defeated unranked Edmen Shahbazyan in his last fight, has accused du Plessis of ducking a fight between them that was supposed to take place earlier this year, and he doubled down on his criticism of du Plessis, once again suggesting that the former UFC middleweight champion has no interest in fighting him.
“For sure (he ducked me), and I’ve never said that about anybody. I’ve got over 40 fights, never said that about anyone, never. I hate that term, too. We were supposed to be good to go January. I was told we were set, we were done, good to go. I was told that all the way up till middle-end of February, and then everything started getting rocky. Next thing you know, it came out that Usman and him were fighting. It’s like he said yes to me, but he took the easier fight. Kamaru’s older, he’s beat down, he’s coming up a weight class, he’s not as hungry,” Allen said.
With Allen and du Plessis both without opponents, a matchup between these two top-ranked middleweight fighters certainly makes a lot of sense for them in their next bout, as they are both getting closer to fighting for the UFC middleweight title.
If the UFC ends up booking this matchup, look for it to be a five-round headliner for a UFC Fight Night card, or potentially be a co-main event or featured bout on a numbered card.
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