No. 4-ranked UFC middleweight contender Brendan Allen felt that former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis ducked a fight against him.
Allen returns this Saturday at UFC Vegas 118 when he battles unranked fighter Edmen Shahbazyan in the co-main event.
When this fight was first announced, fight fans were left scratching their heads because Allen is one of the top-ranked middleweights in the UFC, while Shahbazyan does not have a number next to his name.
But according to Allen, he just wanted to take a fight and make some money, so he took the Shahbazyan fight since du Plessis apparently did not have any interest in fighting him.
Brendan Allen Accuses Dricus Du Plessis of Ducking Him
Speaking to Mike Heck of MMAFighting.com in a recent interview, Allen said that he was supposed to fight Du Plessis, but the former middleweight champ ducked him.
Not wanting to wait around, Allen accepted a fight against Shahbazyan instead.
“Because he’s a (expletive). It was supposed to be a done deal in January. I was told it was a done deal. Me and Dricus was done and then they said he got hurt and he’s not fighting until July. And I was, at that time, it was supposed to be like around May that I was told that I would fight him. So I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to wait, who’s next?‘ Or maybe it was end of April, I don’t even know. I think it may have been end of April, some somewhere in April, yeah, because then it got moved to May, then they said he got hurt,” Allen said.
“But he posted training videos the next week, so I don’t know. I kind of think I was a little bit finessed, to be honest with you, and I don’t know by who. I’m not saying it was by anyone in particular, but that’s what I feel. And then I asked for (Kamaru) Usman. Like, let me fight Usman then, since (du Plessis’) hurt, he’s ready to go, let me fight him. I want to fight him. Let me fight him. And that didn’t come to fruition. I asked for many other guys, those didn’t come to fruition. I got sick of waiting, sick of waiting, needed the money, and I took the guy who was on a win streak and didn’t have a fight.”
Brendan Allen vs. Edmen Shahbazyan Betting Odds
According to the latest betting odds, Allen is a -205 favorite over Shahbazyan, who is a +175 underdog.
Given that Allen is a top-five ranked fighter and Shahbazyan isn’t ranked at all, it’s a bit surprising that the spread for this fight isn’t wider.
But Shahbazyan has legitimate KO power, so although he might not be ranked, he is still extremely dangerous, and Allen knows that he will have to be on his toes.
If Allen can survive the first round, then he should be able to take over late and likely win by his patented rear-naked choke. But it’s not a lock by any means, and the odds are relatively close due to the stylistic matchup, even though the ranking disparity would make you think this is a mismatch.
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