Brendan Allen has never lost two fights in a row during his career, and he doesn’t intend on starting at UFC Fight Night 252.
After suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Nassourdine Imavov in September, which snapped his seven-fight winning streak inside the octagon, Allen (24-6 MMA, 12-3 UFC) will attempt to get back on track when he rematches Anthony Hernandez (13-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the Feb. 22 card at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle (ESPN+).
Allen is disappointed in himself for the setback against Imavov, but said unusual circumstances, which he doesn’t want to use as excuses, contributed to the outcome. Nevertheless, that result has fueled Allen, and he is confident in his ability to rebound.
“Coming off a loss, I’m always a different monster,” Allen told MMA Junkie Radio. “It’s different. Plus, it’s a redemption fight for me and, I don’t know, I hope that I go out here, beat ‘Fluffy’ – and I won’t talk bad about ‘Fluffy’ whatsoever or be disrespectful, because I really like ‘Fluffy’ as a human. He’s a great human. But I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do my job. I’m going to finish him and hopefully after that it just shows circumstances weren’t on my side in France and I’m still the killer who should be close to the title shot – and hopefully I get a top-five guy next, really put a statement on them and put me back in contention.”
Allen, 29, lost to Hernandez, 31, by unanimous decision in their first meeting at LFA 32 in January 2018. Both men have evolved significantly over the past seven years, but Allen thinks he’s progressed further, and is eager to show it.
Hernandez, No. 13 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie middleweight rankings, is riding a six-fight winning streak with five stoppages going into the rematch. No. 11-ranked Allen thinks it will be great for his career to halt that run while simultaneously avenging one of his early career losses.
“My performance is going to tell it all,” Allen said. “I was trying to fight everyone. I literally asked them for everyone – below me, above me, and nothing ever came back. I think that we asked for someone not in the rankings because we didn’t have anyone in the rankings. They didn’t like that fight, so they came back with this one.
“I asked for the fight, obviously, because I want to right my wrongs. We fought seven years ago. I’m not the same guy whatsoever and I want to show just that.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 252.
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