Brendan Allen refuses to fight Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Paris unless it’s the main event
Brendan Allen doesn’t want to play second fiddle to anyone.
In April, Allen won a split decision over Chris Curtis in the main event of UFC Vegas 90. The win not only avenged his most recent loss, but was also his seventh straight victory, moving him up to No. 7 in the UFC middleweight rankings. And now it appears UFC is interested in having him fight No. 4 ranked Nassourdine Imavov, at least so says Allen.
On Monday, Allen released a video on Instagram revealing that UFC wants him to fight Imavov when the promotion returns to Paris in the fall. But while Allen is fine with the matchup, he’s less OK with serving as the co-main event.
“This is for everyone that’s asking me what’s up, when am I fighting?” Allen said. “Two weeks ago, they said Imavov in Paris. I said yes. I said I want to be main event because I’ve main evented three in a row, won all three. I’m going into enemy territory, so if we’re going to do it for all the risk, all the gain, let’s go. Main event.
“Next thing you know, we see [Benoit Saint Denis] and [Renato] Moicano are the main event. I ain’t f*cking going all the way to Paris for these two dudes to go over me. One dude is coming off a loss, the other one barely wins, bro. Nah, I’m not with it.”
UFC makes its third trip to Paris and the Accor Arena on Sept. 28, and recently announced that Saint Denis and Moicano serves as the five-round main event for the card. Moicano has become a fan-favorite since adopting his “Money” persona and recently scored a TKO win over Jalin Turner at UFC 300. Meanwhile, Saint Denis is a former French Special Forces operator but lost his most recent fight, coming up short against Dustin Poirier at UFC 299. And that appears to be the big sticking point for Allen, who instead implored Imavov to come to Allen’s home country instead.
“So Imavov, if you want to fight, you want this work, whatever you want to call it, come on over to America, we’ll get it done,” Allen said. “There’s no way we should be below these guys. I know it’s the Ultimate Followers Championship, but even though they got the followers, just put them on the card, people are going to come anyway. So again, Imavov, if you want to fight, you want to get this done, if it’s just me that you want to fight, come on over to America, we’ll get it done.”
Currently ranked No. 4 in UFC’s middleweight division, Imavov is coming off a controversial win over Jared Cannonier in the main event of UFC Louisville back in June. But it’s unclear if Imavov will be interested in Allen’s offer, as the French fighter trains out of Paris and has not competed in his home country since UFC’s debut there in 2022.