No. 4-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contender Brendan Allen takes on knockout artist Edmen Shahbazyan in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 118 this weekend (Sat., June 6, 2026) inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada — and he’ll be repping another country.
Out of nowhere this week, South Carolina-born, Louisiana-repping Allen revealed he will be representing Brazil on his fight shorts to honor his Brazilian wife and half-Brazilian children.
“You know, one of my daughters and my son are half Brazilian, my wife is Brazilian — I’m representing Brazil this time,” Allen said in a video. “Let’s go, I know the World Cup is coming up. Let’s go, Team Brazil.”
So, we’re keeping count: “All In” has now repped three different countries in his last three fights: United States, Canada and Brazil.
In all honesty, who cares if someone wants to represent a country they feel a connection to? However, this is the exact same company that made top contender Anthony Hernandez — a Mexican-American fighter — provide proof of residency and his grandparents’ birth certificates in order to represent Mexico for his fight in Houston, Texas, earlier this year.
In addition, Featherweight Dan Ige was denied the right to wear red shorts — even though he has worn them several other times — because red apparently didn’t represent the United States. His Ancestry.com results also weren’t good enough for him to represent Japan.
So, yeah, it all feels like an unnecessary headache. And it also feels pretty picky-and-choosy when it comes to approving short colors and country representation.
To checkout the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 118: “Muhammad vs. Bonfim” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
