UFC Vancouver: Brendan Allen full post-fight interview
UFC Fight Night 262 winner Brendan Allen talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight after his fourth-round TKO of Reinier de Ridder.
VANCOUVER – Brendan Allen sees a plausible argument that he could be in line for a title shot in his next fight.
After stepping into the UFC Fight Night 262 main event Saturday on short-notice and the dominating Reinier de Ridder en route to a fourth-round TKO stoppage, Allen (26-7 MMA, 14-4 UFC) thinks he might not be quite there yet – but he could be.
“I’m at the point in my life that I just come here,” Allen told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “I get the job done. I give it my best and the best performance I can for the fans, for everyone here, for the promotion. I step up and I’m trying to be the face. I’m trying to grow and be the best I can be. This division is stacked. It’s steady growing even more stacked. I’m still here at the top and I’m still trying to reach that belt.”
Allen had a rough start to the fight as de Ridder (21-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) mounted him in the opening minute. But after he survived dominant positions and submission attempts, Allen totally exhausted de Ridder – so much so that the Dutchman’s team called off the fight between the fourth and fifth round. The scenario was rare, but one Allen envisioned.
“You can see it when he fought (Anatoly Malykhin) the second time in ONE,” Allen said. “He did the same thing. I think in the third or fourth round, he did the same thing. So yeah, I knew I could get it done. Twenty-five minutes is a very, very long time to take punishment. I didn’t think he’d be able to do it. He took a round longer than I thought, but I also didn’t start off too hot in the first, so three rounds of dominance.”
In front of Allen in the division right now is champion Khamzat Chimaev, who will likely face Nassourdine Imavov next. Then, there’s Anthony Hernandez, who Allen replaced on Saturday’s card at Rogers Arena. Both Imavov and Hernandez have wins over Allen. Looking at those performances with a magnifying glass, Allen says folks shouldn’t read too much into them.
“If you look at the numbers and actually watch the fight in detail, know the Unified Rules, you can argue for both of those – that I won both of those fights,” Allen said. “But it is what it is. It’s a loss on my record. I learned from it. Even though I think it was very close, I arguably won them. Maybe I’m delusional. Who knows? I don’t really care. It’s in the past. We’re growing. We’re learning. As I keep saying, I’m still the youngest guy in the top-15 and now the top-five. I probably have some of the most fights out of all of them. This is my 18th fight in six years. I’d say I’m pretty active. I haven’t fought slouches. I’ve fought all top guys. If you look at everyone I’ve fought in the moment I’ve fought them, they were all top dogs.”
